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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28548996">Care</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoxyGuy87/pseuds/FoxyGuy87'>FoxyGuy87</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Anxiety, Bittersweet, Canon-Typical Violence, Conflict, Doubt, F/F, Fear of Death, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Johnny and V are friendly assholes to each other, Relic Malfunctions, Romance, Suicidal Thoughts, V’s condition is worsening and it’s also impacting her mental health, but Judy is there for her, dark themes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:47:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>36,123</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28548996</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoxyGuy87/pseuds/FoxyGuy87</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Relic - a source of everything that made V and her loved ones suffer. With a disease that is consuming her every single day, V has almost lost all hope. There's not much time left. Her love for Judy is the only thing that pushes her forward, but even that might end someday, right? Will V give up and succumb to the condition, or will she try to find a cure with Judy by her side?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Judy Alvarez/Female V</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>66</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>300</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Bury A Lie</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"So… yesterday… what was that, exactly?"</p><p>For a moment, V felt surprised after hearing Judy's question. The techie she fell in love with so quickly was sitting there on the pier, taking another puff of her cigarette and staring out into the rising sun over the city's skyline. V looked at the tattooed girl for a moment, as if she was trying to analyse her movements and find some sort of a hidden meaning in her presumably straight forward question.</p><p>"Don't remember, or you want me to remind you?" V said, somewhat awkwardly</p><p>"You know exactly what I'm tryna say. What did it mean, like, to you?" Judy took another puff of her cigarette and continued looking at the view in front of her, as if she was afraid of looking at her partner for some reason.</p><p>The question sent a shiver of uncertainty down V's spine. Has she fucked up? Perhaps she misjudged the situation, maybe Judy didn't want a relationship after all? Maybe it was just meant to be a one night stand all along? Slight anxiety filled V's heart at the thought of her being rejected by the girl she adored so much right there. She was starting to get lost in her thoughts again, she remembered about her Relic-related condition again? She wanted to form a relationship with Judy so bad, but could she really make Judy live through the pain of her succumbing to the disease?</p><p>"V?" Judy broke the silence, waiting impatiently for the other girl's response.</p><p>Fuck it, she couldn't just sit there endlessly, not saying a word, right?</p><p>"Think it… I mean…" V started, causing Judy to look her in the eyes "I hope it was the beginning of something nice?</p><p>The reply made a small, honest smile appear on Judy's lips as she looked away again.</p><p>"Unless… you see things differently?"</p><p>Judy let out a small chuckle, a look of relief mixed with happiness appearing on her face. This made V's thoughts relax a bit, as all of her fears of possible misjudgement disappeared instantly.</p><p>"Ugh, can be such a gonk sometimes." Judy laughed "Ruined all my plans, you know?" she said, looking at V "Was gonna leave Night City for good. Even started packing. But now, I got a reason to stay" Judy looked V in the eyes and softly cupped her hand.</p><p>As V felt the warmth of Judy's hand on hers, a smile appeared on her face. Although, it was guilt that she was feeling somewhere in the background. Was this <em>really</em> a good decision? She was trying to keep in mind the fact that Judy had to find out exactly how dangerous her situation was, but now… now it was not the time for that.</p><p>"Why'd you wanna leave?" V asked</p><p>Judy took a sip of her coffee. "Y'know, everything that happened. Guess it just got to me. But now, from where I stand, Night City started to feel like the place to be" she said with a smile that made V's heart flood with love and happy feelings again.</p><p>Suddenly, Judy turned to see V and looked her into the eyes. Damn, she felt like she could melt because of the girl's beautiful dark eyes staring into her.</p><p>"Gimme your hand, V"</p><p>Without a word, V put out her hand for Judy to see. The tattooed girl held her hand above V's for a second, making V figure out that she was about to transfer some data to her. A couple short moments later, a notification that said 'biometric lock key added' appeared in front of her eyes.</p><p>"All set, congrats. Just gave you unlimited access to my pad." Judy said with that lovely, honest smile on her face</p><p>V sat there in awe, staring deeply into those two beautiful eyes, amazed at the showcase of trust Judy had just displayed for her. Her mind was starting to get overwhelmed with the amount of love she was feeling in that moment. Just her and Judy.</p><p>"Whoa… you're asking me to move in?"</p><p>"I-if what you want… Or just drop by when the urge grabs you"</p><p>V sat there, looking at her girlfriend's pretty face. This is really happening, huh? V chuckled happily, thinking about how just around three weeks ago Judy was merely a stranger whom she just met before the Arasaka job… and now, they were starting something new, looking forward to a new, better future. Together.</p><p>"Dunno what to say…" V chuckled, holding Judy's hand and looking into her eyes "Nobody's ever done anything like this for me. Really shows trust."</p><p>"Wanna go there now?" she added a second later</p><p>Judy stared into the water for a second, as if she was contemplating her next move. She bit her lip and took another sip of her coffee, looking back at V shortly after.</p><p>"You know what? Why the heck not!" she smiled, locking eyes with V</p><p>V blushed a bit, cupping Judy's cheek with her hand. She pulled the other girl into a kiss, their lips touching mere seconds later. Everything else disappeared, it was just the two of them. For now… in that moment, nothing else mattered. Even though the kiss lasted for a couple seconds, to them it felt like the time had suddenly slowed down.</p><p>As both of them pulled out, V was the first to get up into a standing position. She offered Judy a hand, but the other girl had already stood up as well.</p><p>"What? Think I can't stand up on my own, huh?" Judy said playfully</p><p>"Nah, just never hurts to help, y'know?" V smirked</p><p>"<em>Suuure, </em>mi calabacita"</p><p>"And that means…" a look of slight confusion appeared on V's face</p><p>"You gotta find out yourself, V." Judy said, with a confident smile.</p><p>The two returned to the cabin for a second to let Judy put on her usual clothes.V stepped into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. She brushed her dark blue hair as it, expectedly, turned into a mess overnight. After putting her usual dark makeup, the pair ate a small breakfast and headed out.</p><p>As the two made their way to V's Porsche… or actually Johnny's Porsche, to be more precise, V couldn't help but stare at Judy almost all the time. <em>Fuck, how was she just so damn beautiful, </em>she thought. She blushed each time Judy noticed she was looking at her, causing an adorable little smile to appear on the techie's face.</p><p>When they got closer to the car, an all too familiar face appeared in V's vision. Following the usual blue static, Johnny appeared. He was leaning on the Porsche's door, taking a puff of a cigarette.</p><p>"<em>What now?" </em>V rolled her eyes, expecting yet another of his remark</p><p>"<em>Look, I know that you two are having fun, but I'm gonna warn you, if you do something to my car I'm gonna-"</em></p><p>"<em>Don't worry, we're not gonna fuckin' shag in your car" </em>V said, annoyed at Johnny. It's funny how quickly her delivery changed when she was not talking to Judy. Apart from all of his annoying little remarks, she's actually grown to like Johnny quite a bit. Them insulting each other all the time was just a way their friendship worked. "<em>On a second thought… that would've been pretty hot, don't you think?"</em></p><p>Johnny sighed "<em>At least you're fuckin' a chick and not that stupid cop."</em></p><p>V flipped the rocker off, causing him to chuckle and disappear shortly after. He was referring to River obviously, a guy she liked, but not in the way he <em>liked </em>her, which led to a very awkward situation and… well, they don't really speak to each other nowadays.</p><p>"Daamn V, that's a nice ride you got there!" Judy exclaimed, excitement in her voice, as the two girls got into the car.</p><p>V turned the ignition on and pulled out of the cabin's driveway afterwards.</p><p>"Thanks!" she said "It's Johnny's actually." Judy looked at her, very curious.</p><p>"How come?"</p><p>"Ugh, it's kind of a long story"</p><p>"And we got all the time in the world right now" Judy smiled. That was true, as the girl's apartment was pretty damn far from the dam. Adding Night City's usual traffic to that, this could easily prove to be a one hour plus drive.</p><p>"Where do I begin…" V put her left hand on the side of her neck, thinking, her right hand still firmly holding the wheel "So you know Rogue, right?"</p><p>"From that bar for mercs, The Afterlife, right?" Judy asked</p><p>"Exactly" V nodded "So her and Johnny… you can say they had… a thing going on in the past" she looked at Judy, who looked a bit surprised at the revelation</p><p>"<em>Ha, so I guess you're not telling her about what happened at the movies?" </em>Johnny suddenly appeared and laughed with a stupid grin appearing on his face</p><p>"<em>I fuckin' hate you"</em> V said, annoyed</p><p>"<em>At least the feeling is mutual, choom" </em>with that, Johnny disappeared again</p><p>At the sound of snapping fingers, V looked at the girl next to her for a second. As she presumed, Judy was just trying to get her back to reality. Getting lost in your thoughts while doing 60 in a Porsche wasn't really the safest of situations, after all.</p><p>"Ugh, sorry. Johnny was just saying some bullshit in my head again" V said, with an embarrassed and annoyed face</p><p>Judy laughed in a way the merc found really cute "That's okay" she smiled, although V could see it in her eyes that she didn't fully understand how V's situation with Johnny and the Relic looked like. She couldn't blame her though, all of this must've felt so damn surreal and absurd for the other girl. Yet, it was all as true as it could get.</p><p>"So where was I…" V said "Ah, right! So Johnny and Rogue had this thing going on in the past… that's why she decided to help us in the first place. So long story short, Johnny wants to get revenge on this Adam Smasher, a scary lookin' cyborg dude that killed him back in 2023. So we go with Rogue to the docks, where this guy called Grayson is located, and he is apparently somehow connected to Smasher. What happens after is that well… we get into a fuckin' shootout, we win, obviously and not a second later, bang! Grayson is on the floor, cornered and begging for mercy, saying that he has something related to Silverhand. I take that 'something' from him and it turns out that he just gave me the keys to this bad girl right here" she proudly smacked the driving wheel of the Porsche with a smirk on her face</p><p>She looked at her passenger to see a mix of amusement, excitement and surprise on Judy's face.</p><p>"Whoa… that's quite a story, V!" excitement could be heard in Judy's voice, as she passionately looked at V's face.</p><p>V took her gaze off the road ahead of her to look at her partner for a second. She noticed the passion with which Judy looked at her.</p><p>"You just love to listen to me, don't you?" V chuckled, making Judy blush a bit</p><p>"You know I do… that's not the only thing I love about you" Judy said teasingly. That was true, though as she absolutely loved the sound of V's voice and listening to the stories she often told was just mesmerizing.</p><p>Judy gave V a soft kiss on the cheek, which made her smile and blush at the same time, even though she was still looking at the road the whole time.</p><p>"Can we make a short stop at Lizzie's for a sec?" Judy asked "Gotta take care of some work stuff. Don't worry, it'll just take a minute."</p><p>"No problem, Jude" V said softly.</p><p>She looked to her right again, to see Judy who was now looking out the window onto the dirty, although somewhat mesmerizing streets of Night City. V kept thinking about how lucky she was to have this girl now, <em>all to herself</em>. They made a declaration this morning, after all. Whatever it was before, they were in an official relationship now. V smirked at the thought that she could officially call Judy her girlfriend now, had she an opportunity to introduce her to someone. However, it wasn't long until darker thoughts found their way into her head. The Relic. The disease that is eating away at her very life. Judy knows, but she doesn't know just how little time left V might have on this world before she gets overwritten by the chip and fades away. Was it selfish of her to make Judy believe that their relationships will last forever?</p><p>"<em>You know, V…"</em> she heard Johnny's voice somewhere, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.</p><p>Could be hiding in the trunk for all she cared.</p><p>"<em>You can't just bury a lie and expect no one to dig it back up" </em>he continued "<em>She has to know."</em></p><p>"<em>What, think I don't know that?" V said "It's just pretty fuckin' hard to tell someone who loves that you're gonna flatline soon"</em></p><p>"<em>No one said it would be easy" </em>Johnny replied, somewhat harshly "<em>Here's the thing: she deserves to know. Especially after what you two said back on that beach"</em></p><p>"<em>Never knew you were a man of feelings, ha ha" </em>V laughed</p><p>"<em>See? I just never fail to surprise you" </em>Johnny smirked and probably disappeared again, as no other words were said after that.</p><p>V often disagreed with the man inside her head but one thing was certain: this time he was right. Maybe a bit too right, even. The woman sighed as her imagination projected a thought of Judy, devastated at the news of V's inevitable death.</p><p>As the two got stuck in a traffic jam, they made some small talk just to pass the time. And that's how the next 30 minutes passed before they arrived at the home of Moxes - Lizzie's Bar.</p><p>After V parked the Porsche, the pair got out of the car and instantly headed to the club's entrance. As always, they were greeted by Rita, the pink-haired bouncer and Judy's close friend.</p><p>"Yo, Judy so you brought your output along, huh?" the bouncer said, with a smirk on her face</p><p>"Damn right she did" V replied just as she noticed Judy was starting to blush just a little</p><p>"Ha ha, nice to see the two of ya" Rita laughed, letting them enter the bar.</p><p>Making their way through the club, V could hear the electro music more and more, as the immense bass started making its way inside, shaking her body through the core. Even though Judy wasn't ever an extravert per se, V noticed the way she made chit-chat with some familiar members of the Mox gang that they often passed on their way to the basement, where Judy worked. The two made their way downstairs. V watched as Judy sat in front of her computer setup and started searching for something, her eyes focused on the screen the entire time.</p><p>"So… what is this all about?" the merc asked</p><p>"Huh?" Judy looked at V surprised, as if she had forgotten about her presence "Uh, nothin' really. I just have to send this one BD to a client and we can head out."</p><p>V glanced around the room. The last time she was in the Lizzie's Bar basement was when she was still searching for Evelyn and Judy was merely a stranger for her. She frowned as memories flooded her mind. The place was a reminder of all the awful things her and Judy had endured in the past. Looking at the braindance seat, she could picture her sitting there for the first time, doing research for the Arasaka heist. With that, more thoughts entered her mind. The image of Jackie's dead eyes in that Delamain cab was planted into her brain, perhaps forever. Another thing she'll likely never forget is the moment she stepped into Judy's bathroom to see Ev's bloodied corpse with Judy sitting by her side, crying her eyes out.</p><p>"V, you okay?" she heard a familiar voice from behind her. She turned around to see Judy, looking at her with a concerned expression on her face</p><p>"Uh, yeah" V said awkwardly "Just y'know… thinkin' about stuff."</p><p>"This about Ev?"</p><p>"Kinda. Jackie as well"</p><p>Judy nodded with a painful look on her face. She had never really admitted it, but she still thought about Evelyn all the time. When that day came, she unfortunately found out what V felt like about losing her best friend.</p><p>"It's okay though" V said after a while, forcing a reassuring smile on her face "Don't worry about me, Jude"</p><p>"I'll try" the other girl smirked</p><p>V really wanted Judy not to worry about her that much. She sighed, getting lost in her thoughts again. Her deadly condition would really ruin Judy's life one day, wouldn't it?</p><p>"<em>Fuck's sake, V"</em> Johnny suddenly appeared, sitting comfortably on the braindance chair, taking a puff of his cig "<em>You know I can feel your thoughts, right?"</em></p><p>"<em>And?</em>" V rolled her eyes "<em>I'm not in the mood to hear yet another one of your dumb remarks"</em></p><p>"<em>And I'm not in the mood to hear your bullshit again" </em>Johnny sighed, getting up from the chair and taking another puff of the cigarette "<em>You don't wanna tell her? Fine. But stop feelin' so fucking sorry about yourself, it's really starting to piss me off"</em></p><p>V was visibly taken back by his response "<em>You know it's not that fuckin' easy, right?"</em></p><p>"<em>Yeah, I do." </em>Johnny said in a more serious tone "<em>But you ain't gonna accomplish anything like that"</em> he disappeared</p><p>The mercenary sighed again. She hated when Silverhand was right, but there he was again, spitting facts into her face for the second time that day.</p><p>"Okay, I'm finished" Judy got up from her chair and stretched. V couldn't help but stare at the way her belly showed from under the overalls when she did that.</p><p>"Ha, you're staring again, huh?" the girl smirked teasingly, sending a flush of red onto V's cheeks</p><p>"What, have a problem with that?" she said playfully</p><p>Judy laughed "Let's go" she motioned V to come along, as she walked out of the room.</p><p>Shortly after, the two were already on the ground floor, making their way through the club's corridors.</p><p>"So what, now we're gonna have the whole day to ourselves?" V said, a smile appearing on her face</p><p>"Yep" Judy smirked "If we don't fuck anythin' up, that is!"</p><p>The two girls laughed, leaving the club and entering the Porsche a second later. While they were still in the club, it started raining, drops of rain softly hitting the windshield as V was turning the ignition on. They drove off a second later. Next destination: Judy's apartment, which was just a couple blocks away from them. V could feel herself getting a bit dizzy from time to time, with the uncomfortable feeling of nausea appearing and disappearing time to time. The familiar blue glitches filled the sides of her vision and that was the sign she had to prepare herself for the massive headache that would come with a Relic malfunction.</p><p>As it hit, they had fortunately stopped at a red light. V hissed in pain, holding her forehead. The notification "RELIC MALFUNCTION DETECTED" appeared in her vision.</p><p>"Fuck, not now" she whispered, as the pain was pretty damn overwhelming. As always.</p><p>"What's going on?!" Judy put a hand on her shoulder, looking at her with worried eyes</p><p>"It's the fucking Relic again…" V said, still holding her head in pain</p><p>Judy sighed with a saddened expression. This served as yet another reminder that V's condition was very much true. She didn't wanna believe that the girl she loved so much had to go through all of this. But it was real and she had to accept the facts somehow, even though she tried to push the thoughts away every time they came up.</p><p>"I'll take the wheel, okay?" Judy said softly, looking V into the eyes</p><p>"Yeah…" V nodded. As much as she loved driving, she wasn't really in the right condition to do so right now. Even though they didn't have to drive far from there, she didn't want to put herself, and more importantly, Judy in danger.</p><p>As soon as the light lit up in the color green, V parked on the side of the sidewalk. A moment later, the car was back on the road. This time the techie was the one behind the wheel.</p><p>"Heyy, this car is fuckin amazing!" Judy said with excitement suddenly appearing on her face.</p><p>Even though the pain still filled her head, V found the strength to giggle at Judy's expression. It was just so damn adorable in a way, seeing her simply having fun in V's vehicle.</p><p>A couple more minutes passed and Judy was already parking at the back of her apartment building. But that wasn't V's focus right now. Why the fuck has the Relic malfunction warning still not dissapeared? With every passing second the girl felt worse and worse, more and more glitches filling up her vision. As the car stopped, Johnny appeared in front of it, leaning over the hood with his hands on it.</p><p>"<em>The fuck is happening, Johnny?" </em>V said in her thoughts "<em>Why isn't this disappearing?"</em></p><p>"<em>Your condition is getting worse." </em>Johnny said in a serious tone, a tone that sent shivers down the girl's spine for some reason.</p><p>V stumbled out of the car, extreme nausea overwhelming her when she stood up. Everything around her was starting to get blurry, twisted and distorted. <em>RELIC MALFUNCTION DETECTED</em> - the only thing she could still see clearly. Judy was in front of her and, thankfully, didn't see the way she was struggling. She was talking about something, but V couldn't make out any words. It all sounded like white noise to her.</p><p>An unknown force sent her stumbling towards a wall, she leaned on it as she felt her body give up on her. <em>Fuckfuckfuckfuck…</em> she desperately tried to look for the omega blockers she had somewhere in her pockets. Meanwhile, the nausea mixed with an extreme migraine were the only things she felt. Suddenly, she felt a headache more severe than the ones before, hit her. It felt like a Scav shoving their scathe straight into her brain.</p><p>She screamed in pain, inevitably causing Judy to look back and panic, perhaps. But wherever she was, all she saw was a blurry figure which didn't resemble her girlfriend in the slightest. That was it, the dizziness completely took hold of her, as she started to stumble backwards. In that moment, all she could hear was ambient noise and some muffled, panicked screams in the backgrounds. She guessed it must've been Judy, witnessing the horrifying attack her loved one was just suffering from.</p><p>V fell backwards, the back of her head hitting a lamp post on the way down. A second later, she was laying on the asphalt, staring at the clouds above, with cold rain washing her face. She felt as if she could drown in it.</p><p>"<em>Fuck, V!" </em>a panicked Johnny kneeled in front of her</p><p><em>This is it, huh? Am I dying?</em>  V thought, as she laid there, frozen in place. She felt a warm liquid pour out from under her, perhaps from the wound in her head. Her vision was starting to get more and more blurry with every passing second. She saw a panicked, teary-eyed Judy running up to her.</p><p>Then… blackout.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you liked this chapter, it's the beginning of an all new story! Can't wait to see all of your thoughts about this!</p><p>If you have any criticisms or other opinions you'd like to tell me, please do. I'd love to be able to improve upon something, if you find sth like that!</p><p>See you next chapter,<br/>FoxyGuy87</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Dreaming Is Sinking</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>V recovers from the malfunction and tells Judy about her condition, while different nightmares plague her sleep.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The silence was somehow deafening. It seemed like seconds ago when V was lying on the cold ground, rain pouring down on her, blood pouring out of her wound while she was waiting for death or whatever salvation Judy could bring to her. Now, she was stuck in some sort of a surreal, vacant space, a dark abyss of sorts. Was she in a dream she might’ve found herself in because of her unconscious state? Or was she dead and this is what afterlife actually looks like? The thought alone was terrifying enough, but she did the best she could not to lose hope.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>She was all alone, with her only companion being her mind. No Judy, not even Johnny was anywhere to be seen. While this dream state of sorts was confusing, she also found it somehow soothing in a way - a part of her didn’t really feel like waking up, while the other part screamed out to whatever greater force could’ve been keeping her in this abyss, as she wanted to be back to normal and to see her loved ones again. Suddenly, a stabbing, severe headache appeared out of nowhere, causing her to scream out in pain. Even though her vocal cords were being used to their best capability right now, no sound came out.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>The headache never disappeared, only getting worse and worse with every second. She felt as if her whole world was burning around. So many thoughts came in, filling up her head quickly as if she was in a state of hypermania, she couldn’t process what was happening to her. Overwhelmed by the pain, she found herself collapsing on the ground and as she looked up, she actually saw fire surely burning down whatever this abyss was. The fire was starting to surround her, until…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“V!” a distorted voice called out, sounding like straight from an old, broken braindance recording</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sounds started to reappear suddenly, hurting her ears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wake the fuck up”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>The dark abyss around her collapsed.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>/</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>Back to reality, the merc woke up in a dark, albeit familiar room. She was laying on her back on a comfy bed, staring up into the ceiling, with every inch of her body still hurting. She instinctively placed her left hand where the wound at the back of her head was, only to feel bandage wrapped around it.  Her vision needed some time to adjust to the sudden change of scenery, but when it did, she instantly recognized this place as Judy’s bedroom, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. The blinds were almost completely closed, letting only a little bit of light into the room. The door was opened and she could see a small part of the apartment through it, but she immediately noticed that orange light was effortlessly making its way into the kitchen, so it must’ve still been the early evening, the sun was already setting. After V’s hearing was back to normal as well, she heard the muffled sound of water coming from the bathroom, so she figured that Judy must’ve been in the middle of a shower at the moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her head still aching like hell, V turned to her side to see a familiar figure. It was Johnny, leaning on a wall next to Judy’s wardrobe and taking a puff of his cigarette as he did so often. He was lucky to be just an engram inside her head, as the techie would probably kill him for smoking inside her apartment all the time. It was funny how even in this terrible condition, the first thing V thought about was Judy. This made her realise why she was here, as the memories of the terrible Relic malfunction she’d suffered through flooded her mind. Judy must’ve been worried out of her mind, seeing her in this state. Who wouldn’t be, though? Seeing your output collapse on the floor in pain, bleeding from a wound in her head and losing consciousness rather quickly would send anyone into panic. V shivered as she imagined what Judy must’ve been feeling in the last couple hours.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Finally.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Johnny sighed, taking a puff of his cigarette </span>
  <em>
    <span>“You’ve given your girl quite a scare, y’know?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>V liked how that sounded like - </span>
  <em>
    <span>her girl. </span>
  </em>
  <span>She smirked at the thought, but her mood was quickly ruined once again by her coughing and the constant headache.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“How long have I been out?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>she looked at Johnny desperately, as if he knew all the answers</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I dunno, must’ve been a couple hours at least” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he shrugged</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Fuuck…”</span>
  </em>
  <span> V sighed, trying to get her up. She was stopped, however, by the overwhelming aching in her brain, so she decided to lay back down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a couple moments that felt like eternity, she noticed that the water in the room to her right has stopped running, meaning that Judy has probably finished washing herself. Some dirty thoughts of the two of them showering together, bodies touching each other came into her mind, but she tried to repress them to the best of her ability in order to focus on how she was feeling and find a way to tell Judy about how severe her condition really is. She knew that at this point, her output just had to know what was going on, she couldn’t just run from the hard truth for eternity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A couple more minutes passed and she heard the sound of a door closing just outside of the bedroom. The girl she adored so much walked out of the bathroom and instantly headed into the kitchen, not looking at the room V was resting in. Looking at her movement, V instantly noticed that the girl was feeling really anxious and tired, as well. Judy opened the fridge and spent a couple moments looking inside, probably searching for something to eat and/or drink. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Judy…” V tried to get the girl’s attention but her voice was so raspy and tired, that only a quiet, barely audible whimper could be heard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After clearing her throat somewhat awkwardly, she tried again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Judy” she called out once again, trying her best to not sound as weak as she felt since the second she woke up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other girl instantly stopped what she was doing and turned around to see V laying there awake on the bed, trying her best to suspend herself with her elbows and look Judy in the eyes. Her heart was flooded with relief and happiness as she rushed to her weakened girlfriend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“V!” she cried out, tears of happiness filling up her eyes. She sat at the side of the bed and embraced V into a warm hug, although being careful enough not to hurt her even more, all while repeatedly giving her soft kisses on the forehead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I was so fuckin’ worried…” more tears fell from her face as she pulled out of the hook and sat there on the bed, all while cupping V’s right hand in her own,</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V smiled. She just felt so safe and comfortable with Judy right beside her, which made her instantly push away all the pain caused by the hell she’d just lived through before falling unconscious. She slowly cupped Judy’s cheek with her other hand, wiping her tears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Th-thank you, Judy” V said in a weakened voice</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Judy sighed and looked into the other girl’s eyes. This time, a more serious expression was painted onto the techie’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“V, you seriously need to tell me what’s going on.” she said “I mean, I-I know it’s because of this Relic thing, but… I didn’t expect it to be this bad. I mean, you a-almost drowned yesterday, and now this… I was so fucking scared when I saw you there on the parking lot, I genuinely thought you were dying or something… I wanted to call your ripperdoc, b-but I didn’t know his number, so I tried my best to make you feel okay…” she stumbled on her words, tears appearing in her eyes again</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shh… it’s okay.” V said, a weak smile appearing on her face “You did very good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She lightly pulled Judy in for a kiss, making the other girl calm down a bit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But please, V… tell me what’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>going on…” Judy said in a serious tone</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V sighed. She knew exactly how this revelation might take its toll on Judy, whom she loved so much. The poor girl has already suffered so much after losing Evelyn and, now, worrying about V’s health. But… it had to be done and V couldn’t let Judy be unaware of the terrible state she was in anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Judy I…” V’s voice was trembling, as she looked for the right words to say “I don’t know how much time I have left.” she finished in a more quiet tone</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She saw Judy's hopeful look turn into a painful, bordering on devastated gaze as she tried to process what she’d just heard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“W-what…” Judy swallowed the gulp she suddenly felt in her throat “What do you mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is killing me, Jude” V tried her best not to break down into tears “I feel worse and worse everyday.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The tattooed girl looked as if she was on the verge of absolutely breaking down into the tears. She closed eyes and took a couple deep breaths, holding tightly onto V’s hand as if that would cure her from the curse brought by the Relic. V couldn’t blame her for reacting this way, but she also hated to see someone she loved so much, hurt this way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I’m so sorry for not telling you about all of this earlier.” a couple tears fell from V’s eyes. “I’m so, so sorry, Jude… I just wanted to make you feel happy and safe but I can’t stand the fact that </span>
  <em>
    <span>when</span>
  </em>
  <span> I’m gone someday… it would ruin you so fuckin’ much…” V felt as more and more tears fell from her face, she was breaking down “I-if y-you wanted to… walk away from me or… I-I’d get it”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked up to see Judy breaking down into tears as well, with them leaving traces of her black eyeliner across her cheeks. Taking a deep breath again, the techie closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“D-don’t even say that.” Judy said through the tear “I love you, ya gonk” she forced a smile onto her face</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This calmed V down a bit. That would be the first time any of them openly declared love to one another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I-I love you too.” she said, pulling Judy in for a hug again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two girls hugged for a long while. After pulling away, Judy kneeled beside the bed and laid her head on V’s chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is there any way to help you?” Judy said softly, her voice barely audible</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think…” V said “Me and Johnny are figuring something out but… y’know”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She felt Judy’s cheeks move as she smiled a bit at the news. Her hope was back, at least a little.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m just really fuckin’ scared” the merc added after a while</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Judy pulled away from V and looked her straight into the eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever happens…” she started “I’ll be here with you to the very end.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V felt a sudden heaviness on her eyelids again. She was really tired and all of those emotions made her want to fall asleep even more. It was like it was some sort of an escape from everything happening around here, and in that moment, she could really use some escapism. Although her mood was certainly elevated by how supportive Judy was towards her. That girl truly was a gem and she felt so happy to have her beside her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go get some rest, mi calabacita” Judy smiled. She must have noticed V’s tired expression. “I’ll get you some water.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She softly kissed V’s forehead before getting up and turning to the kitchen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, Judy…” V called out, causing the girl to turn around in the doorway, raising an eyebrow “Thank you, for everything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Judy smiled and turned around again, heading to the kitchen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Johnny’s flickering image appeared in V’s vision.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Wasn’t that hard, was it?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> the rocker said with a smirk, leaning on a wall with his hands crossed</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Telling her?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>V asked, and he nodded </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Yeah, it was pretty fuckin’ hard. Thanks for your support”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m not your damn babysitter, V” </span>
  </em>
  <span>he laughed</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yeah, yeah, stop with the bullshit” V sighed “What do you want?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“My point, V, is that we need to act real fuckin fast” Johnny said “You got lucky that you were with your output this time, but what if it happens again. I don’t want to see you dying in a dark alley somewhere in this shitty city, believe it or not.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>V was about to reply with something, but she was cut off by Judy, who had just walked into the room, carrying a glass of water. She handed it to V, who instantly downed the entire thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Damn, you must have been really damn thirsty, huh?” Judy laughed, surprised</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mmhm…” V smiled, wiping her wet mouth with her wrist “By the way… what hour is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“7PM”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck… I’ve been out for a long time, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah…” Judy sighed, looking at the ground. She definitely didn’t feel like coming back to the memory of rushing to a bleeding V, laying there in the parking lot in the cold rain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyway… try to get some sleep, okay?” she added after a moment “Make yourself at home” Judy smiled, before walking out the door and heading into the kitchen again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V was left there alone, laying on the bed and staring out into the ceiling. After the terrible Relic malfunction, she was feeling at peace. With Judy by her side, everything seemed like it’s going to be okay, even if she couldn’t find a way to believe it sometimes. Maybe one day, after she finds a way to stay alive, they’d run away together and start a new life somewhere else. Together. That was a dream for which V would have given everything to come true. She never felt like this towards anyone and in a seemingly short time, Judy has proven herself to not only be a great person who could be trusted with everything, but also someone with whom V wanted to spend her entire life with. To be by her side all the time, make her happy and grow old together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are my home, Judy…” V whispered, taking one last look at the techie, who was in the kitchen, before falling asleep.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>/</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>The merc found herself in a dark abyss again, the same one from her last dream, although this time there were no signs of the fire that burned this place down the last time she was here. The atmosphere all around seemed a bit more somber, in a way she couldn’t really put her finger on. She wandered around the vacant space, wondering about the meaning of those dreams that haunted her so much lately for no apparent reason. She noticed a car-like figure at the horizon, so she decided to approach it. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t take her that long of a time to cover the distance - it was way shorter than it looked initially. That was another thing she noticed in the dream state - everything was so surreal and time and space felt very much distorted. The car turned out to be… a Delamain cab. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When merely a couple meters were left between her and the car, the back door suddenly opened. She hesitated before getting in at first, but an unknown force pushed her forward, forcing her to enter the cab. For a couple moments, everything was dead silent and nothing happened. That was the case until she suddenly heard gunshots. V looked out the side window to see… nothing. Nothing, except for the infinite void. She looked to her other side to see… Jackie. Dead. In the exact same position he was left there after the heist. V was frozen, staring into her best friend’s dead eyes over again as all of the horrible memories of that initial moment flooded her brain again. What was the meaning of all of this? Was this supposed to be some soft of a representation of all of her fears, guilts and bad memories?</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking that perhaps this would let her wake up from the nightmare. But after she opened her eyes, Jackie’s dead body was replaced with something… way worse - something she’d never imagine to see in her darkest fears. The corpse of… Judy. V completely froze when she saw the bloody dead body of the person she loved the most. After a couple seconds, the terrible vision flickered, just like Johnny’s engram, and disappeared, but the image of the dead girl was already burned into her brain. She remembered every single detail. Her girlfriend’s blank, dead eyes staring straight into her soul with some sort of sadness, that made all of it feel too real. The blood that was slowly dripping from her nose and mouth… V closed her eyes and tried her best to make the horrible image fade away.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>/</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>V woke up in sweat, fighting to catch her breath after what she’s just witnessed in that horrifying nightmare. She looked around the room anxiously, as if she was expecting another terrible thing to happen. It took her a minute to adjust to reality again. After a second, she breathed out in relief. She was still in that same bed, this time she was covered with a blanket. V felt herself smile at the thought that Judy must’ve covered her in the night when she was still sleeping, to make her feel a bit more comfortable. The thought of her girlfriend reminded her of this fucked up dream she’d just woke up from, sending shivers down her spine, but the negative feeling disappeared immediately when she noticed a sticky note placed just at the side of her bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Hey sleepyhead</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span><br/>
</span>
  </em>
  <em>
    <span>I had to go to my studio at Lizzie’s but I brought u some breakfast, mi amor :)</span>
  </em>
  <em></em>
    <span></span><br/>
<em>
    <span>It’s on the kitchen counter</span>
  </em>
  <span>!</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <em></em>
  <span>Enjoy &lt;3”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V smiled at the note and felt a feeling of warmth and love fill her heart. It was something about the way Judy wrote all of it, that made it really adorable. After looking at an alarm clock which was sitting at Judy's desk, she noticed it was already 6 AM. Damn, she really did sleep a long time that night.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ugh, I’m gonna puke from all that fuckin’ sweetness”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Johnny appeared in her vision with… a cigarette in his hand… as he always did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The girl rolled her eyes at his remark and tried standing up. Her knees almost gave up on her as she did it, making her have to grab onto the desk for a little bit of balance at least. Even though everything hurt like hell, she started walking. One step at a time, she slowly but surely made her way to the kitchen all whilst leaning on a wall.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Hmm, Johnny, I’ve been wondering about this thing.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>she suddenly said, making him turn his attention to her </span>
  <em>
    <span>“These fucked up dreams, do you think they mean anything?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“What they mean is that your psyche is beyond fucked up cause of this Relic” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Johnny took a puff of his cigarette</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V rolled her eyes again. He was right though, she knew that she didn’t have much time left if she didn’t do anything, and these dreams could’ve been a sign of her degrading health as well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a bag of some food and a cup of coffee in the kitchen. V immediately recognized them as they were from a local diner she frequently visited whenever she was doing some gigs in the neighborhood. She opened the bag to see a big sandwich with locust pepperoni, cheddar cheese, salad and some BBQ sauce. The merc started eating immediately, a grin appearing on her face. She hadn’t eaten this good in days, probably. After taking a sip of coffee, it instantly occurred to her that this was a latte with sugar, her favorite kind. Even though it got a bit cold, it was still very damn tasty. It was so sweet of Judy to remember what V’s favorite drinks and food were. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A couple minutes later as she was finishing, V decided she’d text Judy to thank her for the food and everything else.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Hey Judy, just woke up, haha. Anyway thanks for the food, I’ll be on my way out now. Love ya!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>After a couple more minutes, a response appeared on her phone’s screen.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“no problem :) love ya too :*”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“be careful tho. and if whatever happens, call me immediately okay??” </span>
  </em>
  <span>another text appeared a second later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>V smiled upon reading Judy’s text.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Don’t worry Jude, I’ll be careful! Thanks again :)”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>After throwing the empty bag and cup into the trash can, V got dressed. She made a mental note to immediately go to her apartment to get some new clothes as these ones were still wet and dirty from when she collapsed in the rain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Smiling on her way out, V walked out of the apartment, locking the door behind her.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I wanted to thank for all of the support this story has been getting!</p><p>If you have any thoughts you'd like to share, please do! I really love reading every comment and I try to respond to them as well.</p><p>Peace out, see you next time chooms! :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. I Revolve Around You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A lighter chapter centered around the relationship of V and Judy.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Fuck!" V shouted as she slid across the hood of a worn-down rusty Thorton Galena G240, bullets from a Scav's assault rifle flying right past her, while she was holding a suitcase in one hand and a weapon in the other one. She had to defend herself somehow, as more and more enemies were coming out of the warehouse located in Santo Domingo, where she was sent by El Capitan to retrieve some of the goods stolen from one of his clients.</p><p>Putting the cargo aside, the reputable mercenary loaded another clip into her Militech Saratoga, a submachine gun that quickly became one of her favorites, as it saved her life more time that she could count. She carefully peaked out of her cover, but was stopped as a bullet dabbed the hood of the old car she was hidden behind. She sighed, taking out a frag grenade and pulling the pin off with her teeth before blindly throwing it above the hood and into the direction, from which the Scavs were approaching her. The explosion followed soon after. She heard a scream of pain and shock, which meant that it must've hit at least one of them. Good. That would buy her some time.</p><p>She peaked out again, this time no bullets came to her direction. Carefully aiming for her targets, V picked off a couple organ-harvesting gangsters with her trusted Saratoga. From what she remembered, there should be only 4 or 5 enemies left. As she was about to shoot another one, she heard a familiar click that she hated so much. The mag was already emptied, so the merc detached it from the gun and threw it somewhere on the ground, while desperately searching through all of her pockets to find another one. <em>Well, fuck</em>. She was all out of ammo for the Militech made gun.</p><p>"<em>Legendary mercenary, about to be killed off by a couple stupid Scavs, because she didn't think to bring some fuckin ammo to a gig. Look at that!" </em>Johnny suddenly appeared in her line of sight, mocking her with his usual shit-eating grin.</p><p>"<em>Shut the fuck up" </em>V hissed "<em>I need to think of a way to delta the fuck out of here"</em></p><p>Without a word, Johnny nodded at the Quadra Type 66 Avenger which V used to get to the location. The car was parked at the side of the street, about 300 feet away. But with a little bit of luck, and perhaps distraction, she would make it no time.</p><p>"<em>That's… actually not a bad idea" </em>V said, nodding at Johnny, who smirked.</p><p>She took another grenade and threw it into the scavs. Not even waiting for the upcoming explosion, she took off, running to the car like her life depended on it. Well, it did depend on it, to be fair. A couple bullets flew by her, until a second later the gunfire faded away to make place for the explosion, which must've taken away the man who was firing at her. V got into the car, setting the suitcase on the passenger seat and quickly tossing the gun next to it. After she turned on the ignition, she quickly drove off, leaving smoke and traces on the asphalt behind her. A couple seconds later, V called up El Capitan, to inform him about the gig going in her favor.</p><p>"Secured your goods. Where do ya need 'em?" The merc said as soon as the man picked up the holo.</p><p>"Shit, you're real quick, aren't you!" El Capitan laughed, his hands crossed. "Get them to that drop box, I'm sendin' you the cords right now." he hung up.</p><p>A mark appeared on V's map, so the merc quickly made her way to it. She drove fast as always, but every move she made was calculated. She carefully swerved through the gaps between all of the other cars on the busy streets of Night City. When she was driving with Judy to the other girl's apartment a couple days ago, she drove way slower, obeying the traffic rules for once, as even though V always tried to be careful with her driving, there's always a possibility of crashing into something and she couldn't let herself endanger Judy because of her fast driving. That, plus Johnny always hated when she damaged his Porsche. He always made her fix the vintage car, even if it was merely a scratch on the silver paint job. Could she blame him, though? She really liked that car as well. A minute later, she found herself in front of the drop box, putting the suitcase into it. A couple seconds passed and a message from El Capitan appeared on her holo, followed by the addition of 2500 eddies to her bank account. As she was returning to her Quadra, another message appeared. This one made her instantly smile and feel butterflies in the stomach, as she noticed who sent it.</p><p>
  <em>From Judy Alvarez</em>
</p><p>"<em>heeey V i miss youu :" </em>the message read. There was something about her output's writing style that made it really adorable in V's eyes.</p><p>"<em>Hey, I was just doing a gig" </em>V sent. Fuck, that came off drier than a peace of bread laying in a Kabuki back alley for 4 days straight. A thought came into V's head, she could really use Judy's company right now. It was already getting dark and the two haven't seen each other since V crashed at her place, feeling like a piece of shit due to the relic malfunctions she hated so much. "<em>Wanna meet up tonight or sth?" </em>she sent another text.</p><p>"<em>sure! where do u wanna meet?"</em></p><p>V thought about her response for a moment "<em>What about my place this time?" </em>she texted. Even though her apartment was located in a dirty, loud megablock and to top it off, it was very damn small, she kinda did like it. Not like she spent a lot of time there, anyway. She envied Judy though, her residence was so spacious and just… nice to be in. Plus she had a kitchen, contrary to V who had to live off shitty burritos from a vending machine whenever she was in the mood for a snack and didn't want to go through the trouble of walking through the block and going down the elevator in order to pick up something from a local bar or food vendor.</p><p>"<em>sounds nice : when?" </em>Judy texted after a minute</p><p>"<em>I'll pick you up from your place in like an hour, okay?"</em></p><p>"<em>whoa… such a gentlewoman hehe. thats okay, mi calabacita i'll be waiting!"</em></p><p>V smiled at Judy's message and entered the muscle car, heading back home to get herself washed and dressed properly. It wouldn't really be the brightest of ideas to show up in dirty, bloody clothes all while smelling like death itself, huh?</p><p>
  <em>
    <strong>/</strong>
  </em>
</p><p>V pulled up to Judy's apartment in the Porsche, as she knew how much Judy loved that car from the first time she'd seen it. She was wearing her favorite Samurai jacket, some black jeans and worn-out black sneakers which she loved so much. She opted for a casual, yet stylish look. This wasn't meant to be some sort of an elegant date in an exclusive restaurant, after all. Judy wasn't a fan of that stuff anyway and neither was V. She sent a quick, short message to her output, telling her that she's ready and waiting in front of her apartment. A minute later, Judy was already leaving the building, with a smile on her face.</p><p>"Heey-" V greeted the other girl as she entered the Porsche, but was cut off by Judy pressing a kiss onto her lips. V blushed, surprised at the sudden act of love.</p><p>"Whoa, you're quick, aren't you?" V's cheeks were still red</p><p>Judy laughed, but was quickly silenced, as this time it was the merc who unexpectedly kissed her on the lips. She whimpered softly, as her cheeks flushed red as the autumn leaves falling from a lonely tree.</p><p>"Not fuckin' around, are we?" Judy smirked as the other girl pulled out</p><p>"Nope" V smiled "Straight to the point."</p><p>"Let's go now, huh?" the techie suggested "I'm freaking starvin'"</p><p>"Haven't eaten anything?" V turned the ignition on and started driving away, a bit of surprise visible on her expression</p><p>"Nahh… I was waiting for you"</p><p>"I see" V smirked</p><p>Soon after, the two women were moving through the streets of Watson, at a higher pace than usual. It was already pretty dark outside, so traffic was also less dense than usually. The sky wasn't pitched black just yet, but every last bit of the sunlight left was slowly giving its place to the darkness as late evening was just about to turn into early night. At this pace, it took the merc around 5 minutes to get to the 10th Megabuilding, where her apartment was located. She was so thankful for the fact that Judy lived so close to her, especially considering how big of a city Night City really was.</p><p>The Porsche stopped in the parking complex just next to the Megabuilding and soon enough the two outputs left the car, making their way through the parking lot. They stepped outside through the usual entrance, even though V was used to just using the elevator to get straight to her apartment. This time was different, as the two decided on some noodles from the vendor just outside the building, who should be still open if V remembered correctly. Yes, it was already late, but it shouldn't surprise anyone that the nightlife is always alive in a city that literally has the word 'night' in its name. No wonder that almost every vendor was open even in the latest of hours, as it was such a great way to earn more money on all the different customers, who wouldn't have been there during daytime. The corps working inhuman amounts of aftertime, who just need something to eat after a long day of work. The hungover gonks returning from late-night parties that need a piece of falafel kebab or a synth-meat burger or…</p><p>"Do you wanna get pad thai?" V asked as the two approached her favorite noodle place, a small booth outside the Megabuilding "I'm feeling some pad thai."</p><p>"Uhh… what's that?" the pink haired girl asked, curious.</p><p>"The fuck?" V was left flabbergasted by Judy's question "You really haven't eaten pad thai? Oh, honey, you better prepare to get absolutely blown the hell away!"</p><p>There was something about V calling her 'honey' that made Judy blush.</p><p>"You're the boss, mi calabacita" Judy giggled at V's adorable expression of confusion whenever she called her that. The fact that V still didn't know what that meant was somewhat funny to her. "Gimme the one with the tofu then. I'm trying not to eat a lot of synth-meat lately" Judy said, after a couple seconds of studying the vendor's menu.</p><p>"Good choice!" V face filled up with excitement "Those are the best ones!"</p><p>"You're really passionate about your food, huh?" Judy laughed, observing V's expression change whenever she was talking about the pad thai.</p><p>"What can I say?" V shrugged "I just love to eat something that isn't a shitty burrito or a energy bar"</p><p>Judy nodded understandingly as she watched her output walk up to the asian man behind the noodles stand. Suddenly, the girl stopped for a moment and turned around to face her</p><p>"Fork or chopsticks?" she exclaimed</p><p>"Chopsticks!"</p><p>V nodded and sat on the stool in front of the counter. Judy watched as she ordered two tofu pad thais. As she was waiting, Judy turned around to admire the Megabuilding. Well, 'admire' is a strong word. These enormous structures weren't a miracle of architecture, but no one could deny that they were really impressive. Thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of people living in one giant building. Something about fitting the population of a small town into such a dense space made Judy really respect the work all the architects and planners must've put into creating these. They were, quite literally, breathing, living ecosystems, as each megabuilding had its own vendors, security and facilities.</p><p>A couple minutes passed and the merc was walking towards Judy, holding two boxes of noodles.</p><p>"Here you go" she said, handing Judy her box, all while smiling adorably.</p><p>Judy kissed her on the cheek, making V blush again. "That's my way of saying thanks" the techie giggled.</p><p>Soon after that, the two made their way into the elevators, each of them holding their food, which was still hot and fresh. As the tasty aroma of the noodles made its way into V's nostrils, she let out an audible moan. Only hearing it made Judy feel something, as some dirty thoughts flooded her mind, making her cheeks flush red. A minute later the elevator door opened and the two women made their way through the floor, which was mostly empty at this late hour. While they were heading to V's apartment, Judy's imagination was going wild while trying to picture what her output's residence could have looked like. She was in different Megabuildings a couple times, but she's never been in one of the apartments before. The techie didn't have to imagine anymore, though, as they were already approaching the entrance.</p><p>V unlocked the door to her house and stepped aside, letting Judy enter first. As the techie entered, she looked around the room, as if she was analyzing every single detail. To her surprise, V's place was smaller than she initially imagined it to be, but she found it oddly cozy. The first thing Judy noticed was a locked door at the right side of the apartment, but she decided to not ask about it, at least for now.</p><p>"Mi casa es su casa" V exclaimed with a smile</p><p>"Oh, you know some Spanish after all?" Judy looked at her, surprised with a smirk on her face</p><p>"Come on, everybody knows that phrase!" V gave her a 'are you kidding me right now' type look.</p><p>The merc walked past her, the door closing automatically behind her. She hung her jacket in the small wardrobe and put the box of noodles on the table which was next to the long couch, Judy following her and doing the same shortly after.</p><p>As Judy was putting the box down, she felt herself getting embraced by her girlfriend from behind, her love's soft breaths on the back of her neck. She looked back with a quiet, happy hum and gave V a little kiss, smiling.</p><p>"Find something to watch" The merc said in a soft, quiet voice "I'll be right back" she smiled, and pulled away from the hug</p><p>While Judy nodded, V made her way to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror, silently staring at her reflection for a couple moments. All of the nice moments with Judy let her forget about her terrible condition, at least for a moment. Right. The condition. Something had to be done to prevent another Relic malfunction fucking up their night as it did before, at Judy's place.</p><p>"<em>Sorry Johnny, won't let you ruin tonight"</em> she said in her thoughts, taking the omega blocker pills from Misty.</p><p>After a while, she returned to Judy who was holding a box with a film of some sorts, reading the etiquette.</p><p>"So I found this one…" Judy said, showing the box to V "It's called 'Bottom Gear', what's it about?"</p><p>Excitement appeared on V's face, as she recognized the show Judy was holding.</p><p>"Ohh, this one is great, it's hilarious!" she exclaimed "Basically, we have these three guys and they take these shitty cars and turn them into beasts. They made a MaiMai go faster than a damn Quadra Turbo, for fuck's sake! Would you believe that?!"</p><p>Judy felt her eyes widen when she heard V explain the gist of the show. Even though she wasn't that much of a car person, that seemed really interesting. That, plus the fact that she loved when V was talking about something she was excited, or passionate about. And even though she never told her, Judy figured that the woman she loved was really keen on cars.</p><p>"Sounds good!" Judy smiled "Let's watch it, then!"</p><p>V smiled as well and the two girls sat on the couch next to each other. They took their pad thais and finally opened their food. Judy giggled at how V was watering at her mouth when looking at the pad thai. She had to admit though, the smell was absolutely amazing. As the food entered their mouths, the two women both moaned in pleasure at how otherworldly good the taste was. Even V, who was used to the dish loved it with the same passion each time she ate it. Judy, on the other hand felt as if something straight out of heaven just invaded her taste buds. She wondered how the hell she'd never eaten this, especially living in Kabuki, a district with a heavy Asian influence on its culture.</p><p>Having finished eating merely 10 minutes later, V put her hand around Judy, pulling her closer. A smile appeared on Judy's face as the two bodies merged. She rested her head on V's chest, listening to her steady heartbeat, while the merc softly stroked her hair. Both of them wanted this temporary moment of bliss to last forever, as all of their worries disappeared and all they thought about was each other. The show Judy picked was playing in the background, but neither of the two really focused on it. The techie couldn't help but let dark thoughts distract her from her girlfriend's warm embrace. No matter how hard she tried, she could never forget about the cancer that was slowly eating away at her lover. Even though the picture of V failing to find a cure in time and succumbing to the disease made her suffer immensely, Judy knew that she had to be prepared for the worst of all possible outcomes, as much as she hated it. Every moment they spent together had to be cherished, and both of them knew that.</p><p>"What's up?" V asked, her tone one of concern</p><p>"That obvious, huh?" Judy mumbled, a bittersweet smirk appearing on her face</p><p>"You're dense, Jude" V said in that same tone as before "Seriously, what's going on."</p><p>Judy frowned and pulled away, to look V straight into the eyes.</p><p>"I'm thinking about… you and you know… I'm scared" she said, her tone quiet and weak suddenly</p><p>"I know…" V let out a sigh "I'm here" she said after a moment, desperately trying to find the right words to lighten up the mood, but she failed.</p><p>"I'm scared that one day… I'll find you and-, you'll end up like Ev" Judy tried her best not to let tears appear in her eyes</p><p>"Judy…" V put her hand on Judy's shoulder and looked at her eyes. A hidden sadness could be seen in them.</p><p>Without another word, V pulled Judy into a tight hug, slowly drawing circles on the girl's back with her hand to comfort her. She felt tears soak her t-shirt, as sobs came from the techie's mouth.</p><p>"Promise me…" she mumbled "Promise me that you won't end up like her"</p><p>"I promise" V whispered into Judy's ear.</p><p>The embrace lasted for a couple minutes, as neither wanted to pull away. Judy breathed in V's smell and was drowning in the touch of her neck, a place where she finally felt at peace. The longer the embrace lasted, the less dark thoughts appeared. And after a couple moments they were completely gone, letting her calm down again and focus on all the love she was feeling. It was moments like this one, where the simple action of two bodies, embraced in silence, said more than any words ever could. Judy pulled away, changing positions and letting her head rest on V's lap. As the girl's thighs made a perfect cushion and her hair veiled over her face, she suddenly started to feel sleepy.</p><p>V sat there, focusing on Judy's soft, steady breaths as she was gently stroking her hair. The merc was lost in her thoughts, thinking about how quickly things change. It was only a couple days ago when the two made their confessions to each other, declarations of love and of starting something new. To think that not even a month ago, Judy was no one else than a stranger to her, when the two first met in the techie's BD studio at Lizzie's Bar. Back then everything felt simpler, she was just trying to make it big in Night City with Jackie by her side. <em>Jackie…</em> damn, she really did miss that bastard. Even though the merc wasn't much of a religious person, she could easily picture Jackie, sitting there somewhere in Heaven, smiling at the two lovebirds. Or, perhaps, laughing at her for not making moves on Judy earlier. Yep, that was more like him. As she was stuck in her mind, she suddenly realised something. A quiet snore was coming out of Judy's mouth. V found the noise really adorable and decided to put Judy into a more comfortable position.</p><p>She slowly got up, letting Judy's head slowly slide down onto the couch. Standing up, V froze dead in her tracks when her girlfriend made a light groan. She looked at the girl, but she was still sleeping, thankfully. For a moment, V felt stuck, looking at Judy's face. The techie looked so beautiful and peaceful when she was asleep, with her bright-colored hair slightly covering her face. V felt as if she could get lost in the image of her girlfriend laying on that couch, in peace. After snapping back to reality, she slowly picked her up, careful not to wake Judy up. Every move the woman's head made really scared V, as she was expecting her to wake up any second, which would probably lead to a pretty awkward situation. Maybe it was V's brain, over analysing every possible outcome, but she was sure Judy would tease her, had she woke up being carried by the merc, which would probably make V die of embarrassment. <em>A couple steps left and… there we go.</em> The merc put her output's sleeping body on the bed and covered her with a blanket to make her even more comfortable. She felt herself smiling and blushing at the adorable sight of her girl, curled up with a blanket, sleeping peacefully.</p><p>It wasn't long until sleep decided to invade V's mind as well, as she felt her eyelids getting heavy a couple minutes later. After changing into her pajamas, she laid next to Judy and cuddled up with her. She gave the techie a soft goodnight kiss on the forehead, causing her to smile in her sleep. And merely seconds later, V's vision blacked out as she fell asleep peacefully, with the one she loved by her side.</p><p>
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</p><p>Judy yawned, as she was slowly waking up. It was still pitch black outside. She looked around the room she woke up in, as if she was trying to remember where she was. The memories of last night came back when her eyes locked with V's face, who was sleeping right beside her. Judy smiled at the sight and felt butterflies in her stomach as she realised that the merc must've carried her to the bed after she fell asleep on her lap. <em>V, the big, bad, reputable mercenary… who would've guessed she was this sweet to people she loved…</em></p><p>The techie reached for her phone, which was still in her pocket. Before pulling it out from the blanket, she turned the brightness all the way down, as she didn't want to wake her girlfriend up. Looking at the screen, she realised that it was 3 AM. Hiding the device back, she heard a familiar notification sound. However, it didn't come from her phone, but from V's instead, which was laying just behind the sleeping woman. Judy frowned, thinking that the noise would make V wake up, but was quickly surprised at the fact that the girl didn't even flinch. Taking into consideration how rarely the mercenary got more than an hour of sleep, this wasn't that much of a shock. Shortly after, Judy reached for V's phone, as she decided it was a good idea to mute it, so it doesn't wake up any of the two.</p><p>Before muting the device, curiosity got the best of her and she decided to check out the culprit of the irritating sound. It was a message from… <em>Kerry Eurodyne?!</em> An influx of questions appeared in Judy's mind. Why was the famous rockstar, <em>Kerry fucking Eurodyne</em>, of all people, texting V at 3 AM?</p><p>"<em>Yoo V, look at this sick axe I just got :) 50k eddies for that thing. Sick right?! Wanna try it out sometimes?" </em>the text read. It came with an image attached, it showed a 'V' shaped electric guitar. It was red and shiny, with gold and white finishes on the sight. Definitely looked like something expensive. After reading the message, Judy muted the phone and put it away.</p><p><em>Wait, V knew how to play guitar? And she played guitar with Kerry himself?</em> Judy was even more dumbfounded. This was a side of V she never knew, but one that she'd love to know more about. She glanced at her girlfriend, still sleeping peacefully. When the morning comes, she will surely ask her about all of these things. Now, however, Judy felt herself dozing again, so she rested her head on the pillow and drifted away into the realm of her dreams.</p><p>
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</p><p>V woke up from her slumber, rubbing her eyes. She let out a yawn, as she glanced around the apartment. It was already daytime, as the sunlight effortlessly made its way into the room through the window glass, illuminating the whole place. She was surprised that her lover was not laying in the bed beside her.</p><p>"Judy?" she called out, her voice still raspy</p><p>"In here!" the other girl called back, waving at her.</p><p>Judy was sitting on the couch, giggling softly at the fact V didn't notice her.</p><p>"Sorry, still sleepy as fuck" V mumbled, slowly getting up from her bed and brushing a string of her dark blue hair out of her face. She made her way to the bathroom and washed her face to sober up a bit. After she was finished, the merc returned to her girlfriend, an expression of pleasant surprise appeared on her face as she noticed the paper bags sitting on the tables.</p><p>"Thanks, Judy, you didn't have to…" she said, taking a wrapped sandwich out of the bag. She sat next to Judy and gave her a kiss.</p><p>"Didn't wanna wake you up" Judy smirked "Plus I got a bit hungry myself"</p><p>"Wait, what hour is it?"</p><p>"10 AM"</p><p>V's eyes widen in surprise, making Judy giggle.</p><p>"I don't remember the last time I woke up this late" V chuckled, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Damn, this is really good!" she smiled, but shot Judy a glare of confusion a second later "You ain't eating"</p><p>Judy shook her head with a smile "Nah, I've already eaten. You're a heavy sleeper, y'know?"</p><p>V chuckled and took another bite of her sandwich. She grabbed her phone for a second, to check if there were any messages that she missed throughout the night. Surely enough, there was a message from Kerry. V mumbled something about the rockerboy texting her at 3 am, as a slightly annoyed look appeared on her face. She shot him a quick text back and put the phone back on the table.</p><p>"You didn't tell me you know celebrities." Judy smirked</p><p>"Huh?" a confused V stared at Judy for a moment "Ah, Kerry" the realisation hit her "He's a pretty great guy. Helped him with some stuff, played guitar with him once or twice. Cool shit." she said, not really thinking much of it. Judy was both confused and amazed at how casually V spoke about knowing one of the most famous rockstars in the whole of the NUSA.</p><p>"You also never told me you play guitar…" the techie said</p><p>V's eyes instantly lit up and she held up her finger, gesturing to Judy to wait for a second, as she couldn't speak due to swallowing a bite of the sandwich her girlfriend brought her. She left the half-eaten food on the table, stood up and made her way to the desk. She looked under it and a second later, she pulled out an acoustic guitar. The merc sat at the couch next to Judy again, laying the instrument across her lap.</p><p>"I'm still a newbie, but Johnny's been showing me some stuff. He's not as useless as you might think" she smirked</p><p>"Play for me, <em>please</em>" Judy said, making puppy eyes, which she knew her output just couldn't resist. A part of the techie was amused at how V's relation with Johnny looked like.</p><p>V nodded with a smile and took one of the picks that were laying on the table. She got the guitar ready and started softly plucking at the strings. She was trying her best to play the melody of Never Fade Away by Samurai, which became one of her favorite songs lately. Normally, Johnny would be there to criticize her technique, but the pills must have been still working, as he was nowhere to be seen. As she played the song all the way up to the chorus, she started singing in a soft, quiet voice</p><p>"<em>A thing of beauty, I know<br/>Will never fade away<br/>What you did to me, I know<br/>Will never fade away"</em></p><p>One she progressed past that part, she put the guitar down and stared at Judy, waiting for some sort of a response. The techie's expression was one of amazement.</p><p>"That… that was really beautiful." Judy said, giving V a smooch</p><p>A couple more moments passed, as the two were talking about different things. V gave Judy a lecture on the music of Samurai and the band's history, including the recent reunion and the gig she let Johnny play. Was it Silverhand's influence or not, she's grown to really like the band and was listening to their discography pretty much constantly. Judy talked a bit about some of the more interesting braindances she's been working on recently and before they knew it, an hour passed. Suddenly, a message appeared on V's phone, one from Panam Palmer. This made an idea pop into her head.</p><p>"Hey, would you like me to introduce you to someone?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well, this is it for this chapter! As always, I highly encourage you to leave a comment if you'd like to share some thoughts about this chapter! I respond to every single one :)</p><p>The next chapter will be a continuation of this one.</p><p>Also, the name of this one is inspired by a Neck Deep song of the same title</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Worst Is Yet To Come</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sunlight was at its brightest, as the California heat was starting to take its toll on the citizens of 'the city of dreamers', widely known as Night City. <em>The city of dreamers, huh? Who came up with that?</em> V wondered about the nature of the place she lived in for such a long time, while her and Judy were sitting on the staircase leading up to the entrance to the megabuilding. As they were waiting for a certain someone, the place where the two girls were sitting was sheltered from the overwhelming heat, as the building's shadow was just enough to act as a defense from the temperatures. V noticed Judy shaking her food lightly, in the same way she did on the rooftop, back when… <em>Evelyn</em>. The mercenary frowned at the memory of that fateful night, but shook her head and let the dark thoughts disappear somewhere.</p><p>"You nervous?" she chuckled, turning to Judy</p><p>"Ha, you know I'm not much of an extrovert" a small smile appeared on Judy's lips, as she ran her right hand's fingers through the unshaven side of her hair.</p><p>V was captivated at the sight of Judy's hair moving in the rhythm of her hand moving through it, it felt somewhat mesmerizing to her. It took her a couple moments to return to reality.</p><p>"Don't worry about it" V smiled, softly patting Judy's shoulder to reassure her "Panam is like a sister to me. You'll like her."</p><p>Judy embraced the mercenary, burying her face into her neck. Since the moment V called her best friend on the holo back when the two were still in her small apartment, Judy was awaiting for the moment she'd finally met her. The fact that V hasn't mentioned the nomad before seemed somewhat strange to her, but she figured she doesn't have to over analyze small things like that. At first, Judy felt a bit jealous about V's relation with Panam, but after the merc repeatedly reassured her that they are nothing more than friends and that Panam is very much straight, the techie let it go.</p><p>"She should be here in a couple minutes I think" V spoke after a while "It's kinda a long road from the Aldecaldos camp to here"</p><p>"Y'know…" Judy said "Sometimes, I kinda envy the nomads. There's something about that feeling of freedom that comes with living outside of Night City"</p><p>"One day…" V swallowed, searching for the right words "one day, we'll leave this city, Judy. Once and for all" Judy looked at her a bit surprised, but didn't say anything "I mean, look how much it took from us. Jackie, Ev… and then I have this fucking chip in my brain that's killing me… When- <em>if</em> I find a way to cure myself, we'll get the hell out of here." she raised her voice at the end, feeling overwhelmed by all the negative feelings that came into her head whenever she thought about all the bad things that happened over the last couple weeks.</p><p>Judy frowned at the sound of V correcting herself, saying <em>if</em> instead of <em>when</em>. She could sense that the merc was starting to lose hope. Could she even be blamed for that, though? Honestly, Judy couldn't imagine what she would personally do, were she in V's position. She would probably give up a long time ago, but over the time she's known V for, she already realized that the merc was a fighter and it seemed like the last thing she'd do is giving up. That being said, the thought of her beloved output succumbing to the overwhelming disease was starting to invade her mind again, and processing the possibility of that ever happening was just too much. Before breaking the silence, Judy swallowed up the gulp in her throat, which built up there because of all the bad pictures materializing in her head.</p><p>"You'll make it, V." Judy reassured her, a bittersweet smile appearing on her face "I believe in it."</p><p>"I know you do." V pressed a soft kiss on Judy's forehead "I know you do…"</p><p>The two sat there in this position for a couple minutes, not saying anything. Instead, the silence was filled up by them listening to each other's breathing. Moments like this could last forever, they should last forever. Ever since Judy told V about her abandoned plan to leave Night City behind, the merc has been considering that option more and more seriously. With a little bit of luck, if she manages to make it alive in the end, they'll leave the city and form a new, better life together. The city was like a parasite, chewing up everyone that lived in it and spitting them out when the time came. Keeping in mind everything that V and Judy went through, it certainly felt like they had suffered that fate. Suddenly, V's thoughts were cut off abruptly as she noticed a familiar off-road truck approaching the street in front of her apartment.</p><p>"Oh, that's her" V stood up and nudged Judy to do the same</p><p>Soon enough, a familiar face exited the car, waving to the two as they approached it. There she was, Panam Palmer in all her glory. The nomad woman was wearing her casual light-green worn out sweater, the same one she wore back then in the Basilisk. V couldn't help but admit that she looked dangerously beautiful in that, but ignored it, as she had Judy by her side, whom she loved and wouldn't have changed for anyone else.</p><p>"So this is your output I've heard so much about?" Panam smiled, as the two girls walked up to her</p><p>"In all her glory" V smirked, making Judy blush a bit. The techie shot her a look that said 'can you just stop?' afterwards.</p><p>"Panam" the nomad said, extending her hand towards Judy</p><p>"Judy" the other girl introduced herself, hesitantly reaching for Panam's hand</p><p>Panam looked at V with a hint of uncertainty. The merc gave her a reassuring smile, but she had to admit that she completely forgot just how cold Judy was to her when they first met back then at Lizzie's Bar. She could only hope that Panam, with her contagious energy and confidence would be able to lighten up the mood and keep up a conversation. For now though, an awkward silence emerged.</p><p>"I thought we could grab a coffee or something and y'know… chat" V suggested after a couple seconds, breaking the silence.</p><p>"Yeah, good idea" Panam's face suddenly lit up again "Where?" she asked afterwards, putting her hands on her waist.</p><p>"Uhh, Tom's Diner is pretty close, I think" Judy said. V noticed that her output's voice was quieter than usual. She must have still felt pretty shy with Panam.</p><p>"I know that place" Panam nodded "We'll use the truck, I don't wanna leave it here on the <em>street</em>" she put an emphasis on the last word, looking at V with a smirk, as if she was teasing her.</p><p>"Oh, come on…" V rolled her eyes. "I only do that… sometimes"</p><p>The whole conversation provoked a chuckle to come out of Judy's mouth. Putting that fact aside, she observed the two girls' casual conversations in astonishment. She was very close with V, obviously, but looking at how effortless the merc's conversations with Panam were, she kinda felt like merely a bystander in that situation. She couldn't help but feel a bit of jealousy at how V's attention was focused on the nomad instead of her. However, that feeling didn't last for long, as the three entered Panam's car a couple moments later.</p><p>"So, how did you guys meet?" Panam asked, turning on the ignition while glancing at the front mirror to get a look at Judy, who was sitting on the backseat.</p><p>V was about to answer, but she stopped, deciding to finally let Judy have a proper conversation with her friend.</p><p>"Uh, the first time we met was actually at Lizzie's when V was preparing for her Arasaka heist." Judy replied</p><p>"Yep." V added "And from the moment I walked into that room and saw 'er, I knew I was in for a treat" she looked at Judy for a moment. A blush appeared on the techie's cheeks, as she rolled her eyes at V's comment.</p><p>"Anyway, we didn't really hit it off until… well, until <em>my friend…</em>" Judy swallowed the gulp that formed in her throat at the thought of Evelyn's unfortunate fate. V instantly noticed her output's trouble in finding words and decided to take over.</p><p>"Basically, I helped Judy in some tough times, one thing led to another and well… here we are" V said, noticing how Judy's face just brightened again.</p><p>"Cute story" Panam smiled "Just make sure to keep an eye on her" she turned to Judy. "V's definitely a keeper, but she's really impulsive sometimes"</p><p>The two women chuckled. As more and more buildings of Little China passed beside them, they were already approaching the diner. The streets weren't all that busy at this time of day, as most of Night City's citizens were at work. California's heat at noon surely wasn't anything pleasant - the simple fact of being outside has proven to be quite a challenge because of the scorching sun. You could think about all the poor souls in their old, rusty Galenas, entry level cars that didn't have any air conditioning. Thankfully, Panam's car was equipped with one, as the temperatures on the Badlands often reached absurdly high levels. It took Panam a couple minutes to find an empty parking space, but after a moment her car was already occupying one that was close enough to the diner. The nomad mumbled something in an annoyed tone about how parking space was simply a joke in the City of Night. Well, there was no denying that the planners did a piss poor job in this manner - you could go blocks without seeing a single parking lot. Seconds later, she turned the ignition off and the three girls got out of the vehicle.</p><p>As expected, the diner was busy. Fortunately for the trio, there was still one vacant table. Not for long, however, as merely seconds later the mercenary, the Aldecaldo and the braindance expert were already sitting there. Judy sat on the couch just next to V, their bodies almost touching, while Panam got comfortable on the other side of the table.</p><p>"Spill" V suddenly said, surprising both Panam and Judy</p><p>"Spill what?" Panam asked in confusion</p><p>"You've been frowning the last couple minutes." V explained. "What's going on?"</p><p>Panam sighed "Okay, here's the thing" she turned to Judy "Judy, I… I can see you're dense, like, as fuck." V noticed in the corner of her eye how her output's face flushed, in slight embarrassment. She softly put her hand on Judy's thigh, as if to reassure her that everything's okay. "My point is that…" Panam continued "Well, it doesn't take a genius to know that you two are fuckin' madly in love with each other. Seriously, I could tell from the second I saw you two there on the staircase." she chuckled, noticing the two other girls blushing "The thing is, Judy, you can relax. As far as I'm concerned, you're family. Because V is family."</p><p>Judy looked down and closed her eyelids for a bit, as if she was analyzing whatever words are gonna come out of her mouth next.</p><p>"I'm sorry, I just…" Judy stumbled on her words "I just have some trust issues and-"</p><p>"It's okay." Panam cut her off, giving her a reassuring smile, as Judy looked into the nomad's eyes "I can see how happy you make V and that's all that matters to me"</p><p>With that being said, V gave Judy a small kiss on the cheek, making the other girl blush. Panam couldn't help but smile at the sight of the two lovebirds. After a while, a waitress came, letting all the women order their respectable coffees: ones with milk for Judy and V, a plain black one for Panam, as they sat there in the diner chatting, once the atmosphere got way less dense than at the beginning.</p><p>"So, Judy" the Aldecaldo said "What's your line of work?"</p><p>"Porn." Judy replied with a delivery so dry that it made V almost burst out laughing, while Panam almost spat out her drink in astonishment, as she felt her eyes widen. The reactions almost made Judy laugh out loud herself.</p><p>"I edit braindances for a living." she clarified "And, as you might expect, most of it is smut" she shrugged</p><p>"Interesting" Panam scratched her head "So you must know a lot about that stuff, huh?"</p><p>"Ya bet" Judy smirked "Got some toys, too" she nudged V's arm playfully, making the merc's cheek flush redder than fresh blood. Panam laughed at the view.</p><p>"I just remembered somethng…" Panam laughed, looking at V, who gave her a glare that screamed 'don't you fucking dare', knowing exactly what she's gonna say "Did I mention how V tried to make moves on me?"</p><p>"Shut up!" Judy burst out laughing "Did she really?"</p><p>Panam nodded, laughing. "Two times, actually."</p><p>Meanwhile, the merc sat there, embarrassment apparent on her expression as her cheeks flushed bright red. "Fuck off…" she mumbled, burying her head in her hands and laying it on the table</p><p>"So the first time was in this hotel, where she tried to get us a room with a double bed." Panam chuckled, as Judy listened to her story in amusement "The other time was at this cabin, where we were resting after, y'know, your typical high octane merc action. Basically, what happened is that she tried to grab my thigh, haha"</p><p>"Hey, hey, hey, in my defense…" V jumped into the conversation, still blushing "You were such a fuckin' tease back in that cabin"</p><p>"Not my fault you missed the memo back at the hotel" Panam chuckled, taking a sip of her coffee</p><p>V rolled her eyes and sat there with crossed arms, pretending that she was deeply insulted by the nomad's words.</p><p>As more and more conversations started and ended, the girls must've already been sitting in the diner for about an hour. V noticed that her coffee was still unfinished, but she decided not to drink it as it's gotten cold a long time ago. After a while, she detected a certain distortion in all the sounds surrounding her, like something straight out of a broken braindance recording. The omega blockers were working for a surprisingly long time now, but the glitches in her hearing might've been the beginning of yet another malfunction of the chip that was slowly destroying her. The next thing that followed was the dizziness and nausea. As she glanced around the room, the vision started to get blurry and her companions' voices were slowly, but surely getting more and more muffled.</p><p>"G-give me a… moment" she stuttered, standing up from the table and holding her head. Concern was painted on the other girls' face, but there was no time for explanations right now.</p><p>V stumbled out of the diner, supporting herself on the wall with one hand. She walked into an alley and weakly leaned against a brick wall of a nearby building. Helping herself with the seemingly simple act of standing up, she grabbed the wall and looked into a dumpster, puking out the contents of her stomach shortly after. Exhausted, as the feeling of heartburn found its way into her system, she slowly collapsed into a sitting position, leaning against the wall and trying to breathe. <em>In, out. In, out.</em></p><p>"<em>Long time no see"</em> Johnny Silverhand suddenly appeared in front of her, doing what he loved so much - smoking a cigarette. "<em>Damn, V, you look like shit."</em> the rockerboy said after a while, his expression turning into a mix of concern and confusion</p><p>"<em>No shit, Sherlock"</em> V groaned. Everything her vision captured started getting distorted by the familiar blue glitches. A headache emerged, being followed by a warning, which the merc hated so much.</p><p>
  <em>RELIC MALFUNCTION DETECTED</em>
</p><p>"Fuck, I need to…" V mumbled, trying to stand up, but she stumbled just to fall back down "I need to-<em>ARGHHH"</em> a massive, piercing headache appeared, causing her to collapse on her back with a scream.</p><p>Her body was shaking on the ground, out of her control. Great, a seizure, exactly what she needed right now. As she looked up, the surrounding buildings didn't resemble anything else than tall, blurry rectangles. Two figures ran up to her, with a look of overwhelming worry forming on their faces. Tears appeared in V's eyes, as the pain was now getting too much to handle. One figure picked her up and put her into a sitting position. Her hands were still shaking terribly, as she couldn't find a single way to control the abrupt movements. She figured the two silhouettes that were trying their best to help must have been Judy and Panam, but she couldn't make out any of their faces, as to her, they were just two blurry messes, resembling a person only by shape. They were shouting something, but V couldn't make out the words that were coming out of their mouths. This was just not fair. Why was this happening to her?</p><p>"B-blue pills… j-jacket" she managed to mumble with the last bit of strength she had left</p><p>The two silhouettes nodded at each other, the first one searching through the pockets of the Samurai jacket V was wearing. The other one tried to hold the mercenary's hand, but the uncontrollable movements sent a fist flying at the figure, pushing it away. Seconds later, a couple of blue pills were given to her by the first silhouette. Her hand trembling, V somehow managed to shove the pills into her mouth and swallow them.</p><p>Her body stopped shaking and as her vision slowly got back to normal, she could finally start to recognize everything that was surrounding her. The first thing she saw was Panam, kneeling at her side with the bottle of pills in her hand and a look of concern, borderline panic on her face. That means… <em>oh, fuck.</em> V looked to her left to see Judy a couple feet away, sitting on the ground. The techie was cupping her cheek, a forming bruise could be seen underneath her hand, as tears were falling from her eyes, all while she was looking at V with horror painted on her face.</p><p>"I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry, I didn't mean too, I-" V broke down into tears as she saw the conseuences of her attack. She'd just hurt Judy, the only person she loved so much. Through the crying, she was mumbling more and more apologies as if she was repeating some sort of a mantra. Judy noticed this, quickly standing up and kneeling in front of the broken mercenary. She truly hated to see her like this.</p><p>"It's okay, baby, I'm here, everything's okay" Judy reassured V, hugging her, while softly stroking her hair. She felt tears soak her t-shirt as her beloved merc buried her head into Judy's neck.</p><p>"No it's not okay… nothing's fuckin' okay" V sobbed "I'm a mess, I'm so shitty, I can't do this" she couldn't calm down, despite Judy's embrace. She still felt a massive amount of guilt over accidentally punching the techie, even if she'd never do it on purpose. All while this was happening, Panam was standing a couple feet away, staring in shock. She's never seen V like this and it truly hurt her to see the merc so vulnerable and weak.</p><p>"V." Judy said, pulling away from the hug despite the mercenary's groan of protest. She cupped the woman's cheek, looking into her weak, teary-eyed eyes. "You can do it. You're the strongest person I know." she kissed her forehead, making a small smile appear on V's face.</p><p>"I'll get the truck ready." Panam quietly said in the background. After she got a nod of acknowledgement from Judy, she walked away.</p><p>A couple seconds later, a honk came from the side of the street. The two girls turned their heads to see Panam's truck, conveniently parked there. Judy wrapped V's hand around her shoulder and stood up, supporting the other girl in the meantime. Together they slowly made their way into the truck, both of them sitting in the back. As Panam drove off without a word, an uncomfortable, yet meaningful silence filled the vehicle. V rested her head on Judy's shoulder and seconds later, she felt her eyelids getting heavy…</p><p>
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</p><p>Hours passed and the afternoon approached rather quickly. The trio was in V's apartment. As Panam was pacing back and forth with a frown formed on her face, Judy was sitting on the bed beside a sleeping V, making sure that the merc was feeling okay. She had to be carried to the apartment, sending strange looks towards Judy and Panam from other people living in the Megabuilding. However, taking in mind V's condition, the two did everything they could to not wake her up, as they had no way to know how the Relic malfunctions truly worked and what could trigger them, so they did their best to be careful with the merc. Panam even took the liberty of parking in the building's parking lot, to make the walk back to the apartment as short as possible. Thankfully, Judy has received the entry code from her output a couple days earlier in a message, so there were no problems.</p><p>"What's on your mind?" Judy said after a couple minutes of silence, noticing the frown on the nomad's face.</p><p>"V's condition." Panam said "It's getting worse. It's the second time she's collapsed like that."</p><p>"Third." Judy corrected in a somber tone "She did that a couple days ago too."</p><p>"Fuck…" Panam shook her head, looking at the floor. Suddenly, a ring of the holo was heard from her pocket. "Gotta take this, hold on for a moment" she said, answering the phone and walking out on the corridor.</p><p>Judy heard the muffled sounds of Panam's conversation, but she paid no attention to it, as she was focused on the sleeping V. For every moment they were happy and tried to not worry about the merc's condition, came another moment which just served as a painful reminder of the depressing truth. She carefully observed the rhythmic movement of V's chest, as the woman peacefully breathed in and out. Judy was at a point where she couldn't spend one second without thinking about V. As much as she didn't want the thought to enter her mind, the techie felt like she had to accept the fact that sooner than later, V's time would be up. And even if it was bad now, the hard truth was that… the worst was yet to come.</p><p>Suddenly, Panam entered the room, her moves seemed more rushed than before, as if she was in a rush.</p><p>"Sorry, gotta go." she frowned "Mitch wants me to help 'im with something and, uhh, better to not keep the man waiting"</p><p>"Alright" Judy nodded. She didn't exactly know who Mitch was, but decided not to ask any unnecessary questions. "Still, it was nice to meet you."</p><p>"Likewise" Panam smiled, turning to the door and starting to walk away. Before she exited the apartment, she looked back for a second. "Keep an eye on her, will ya? And if whatever bad happens, don't hesitate to call me."</p><p>"I will" Judy said "Thanks Panam, for all the help."</p><p>The nomad smiled on her way out and a second later, the only two persons left in the room were Judy and V, who was still sleeping on the bed. The braindance expert sighed, taking a glance at the merc, whom she loved so much. Oh, how she wished that things could just be normal for once. That V would cure her condition and they would head out somewhere far away, leaving Night City in the dust. To spend their lives together… to get a happy ending… would that even be possible in this reality?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you liked this chapter!</p><p>Kinda sucks, right? Panam, Judy and V just wanted to have a nice day together but the Relic complicated everything. Can't have shit in Night City...</p><p>Also, as you may have noticed, I added info about how many chapters are actually gonna be in the story, so you guys know just how much is left.</p><p>I reply to every comment, so I'd love to see any thoughts etc you'd want to share! </p><p>See you next chapter,<br/>FoxyGuy87</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us</h2></a>
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    <p>The atrium of Megabuilding H10 was dimly lit, with the moon's dark-blue light barely making its way down amidst the enormous structure. Light could be seen in some windows here and there, but most other places that would've illuminated the place during evenings were closed, making the area eerily dark. Especially since almost no one was walking through the corridors of the structure at a time when the night was at its darkest. A female silhouette could be seen sitting on a balcony, which was missing its railing. The woman was staring down at the floor a couple stories down. If anyone passed her right now, they'd probably not recognize her as the reputable mercenary, V. Her face was barely visible, with her dark-blue hair casting a shadow over half of it. Truth be told, the merc has been sitting there for more than an hour now, as she couldn't sleep at night due to the ever-lasting curse of overthinking. She was thinking about the present, future and past. A day has passed since her last malfunction, the one which was witnessed by the two closest women she knew: Judy and Panam. Had they not been there, what would even be the chance of her walking out of that alley alive? Hitting your head on a sharp object in some random alley, all while suffering from an overwhelming seizure wouldn't exactly be an adequate way to go out for an edgerunner such as herself, right? Then V thought about Judy, the person whom she loved the most in the world. Her expression back in that alley: a mix of horror, shock and pain. Pain, which was both physical and emotional. V shook her head with a sigh. She still couldn't find a way to forgive herself for punching her output. Even though she knew that it wasn't her fault and she had no way of controlling herself in that moment, she still felt an immense feeling of guilt eating away at her. How long? How many attacks before she flatlines, not able to find a solution in time?</p>
    <p>"<em>You done?"</em> suddenly, a familiar voice could be heard. She looked to her side to see the hologram of the legendary rockerboy stuck inside her head. Johnny Silverhand. Finally. Although she didn't admit it, she was kinda waiting for him to show up with another of his annoying, yet friendly, remarks. She needed a distraction from her paralyzing thoughts.</p>
    <p>"<em>Nah, just gettin' started" </em>V rolled her eyes, a sarcastic tone could be heard in her voice</p>
    <p>"<em>Y'know" </em>Johnny sat next to her "<em>I liked it better when you were butchering Samurai songs on that guitar when you were feelin' like shit."</em></p>
    <p>"<em>Shut it, Johnny" </em>V sighed, purposely not looking at him "<em>I'm not in the mood for your crap right now"</em></p>
    <p>A click of a lighter could be heard. V turned to the rockerboy to see him taking a puff of the cigarette he's just lit.</p>
    <p>"<em>What's eating at you?" </em>he asked, his tone more serious this time.</p>
    <p>"<em>Not like you don't know" </em>V chuckled "<em>You're in my head, remember?"</em></p>
    <p>"<em>You know what I mean."</em> Johnny rolled his eyes</p>
    <p>V sighed "<em>This whole dying thing is kinda getting on my mind, y'know?" </em>she said "<em>Thinking about it, I'd rather go out on my own terms. Or peacefully, with someone I love by my side" </em>she pictured Judy "<em>But when I look at how things are unraveling, all I can see is me dying from a seizure in an alley somewhere… It's fucked up, ain't it?"</em></p>
    <p>"<em>And what happened to the idea of getting to Mikoshi? What, you're just going to fucking give up?" </em>Johnny said. His tone surprised the merc - it was annoyed, but in an aggressive type of way, with a hint of motivation thrown into the mix.</p>
    <p>"<em>All my hope for something better… it died." </em>V shook her head "<em>It's dead and buried in a shallow fuckin' grave. Remember how Judy and Panam had to carry me to the bed? How the fuck do you expect me to do anything when I'm so… weak." </em>her voice cracked at the end.</p>
    <p>"<em>Hope is a prison."</em> Johnny stated, taking a puff of his cigarette</p>
    <p>"<em>The fuck's that supposed the mean?" </em>V gave him a confused, somewhat annoyed look</p>
    <p>"<em>Christ, V, look at yourself!" </em>the rockerboy said, his tone angry. "<em>You're in this weird fuckin' state where you feel like you can't do anything yourself, and have to rely on this mystic force you call hope. What happened to actually making something happen?!" </em>he took a puff of his cigarette "<em>Think of it this way: you cure yourself - then you can get your girl and get the fuck out of this bullshit city. You sit and complain - you won't do jack shit apart from dying and disappointing her in the process."</em></p>
    <p>V looked back at the ground for a moment, processing each and every word he said. Sure, Johnny was annoying sometimes, but she had to admit that he was wise. And he was absolutely right in this manner.</p>
    <p>"<em>Well, that's one way of looking at it"</em> V sighed, standing up. Looking at the structure she lived in, her right hand ventured into her pocket, searching for a certain object. She took out the cigarette case that once belonged to Evelyn Parker. Holding a smoke in her head, she stared at it for a minute, as if she was complimenting if the short lived relief that came was smoking was worth the damage it would cause to her lungs. Why was she even considering having a smoke in the first place? Did Silverhand's influence root itself in her behaviors this much? She decided to fight against it - hiding the cigarette away, she turned into the direction of her apartment and made her way to it.</p>
    <p>"<em>Time to get some sleep, huh?"</em> Johnny appeared in front of her again as soon as she walked through the door.</p>
    <p>"<em>Mhm"</em> she mumbled, falling lazily on the bed. 2 AM, just the <em>perfect</em> time to finally call it quits for the day, huh? After many hours without sleep, V tried her best to let every thought she had in her head disappear for a while, letting her finally get some rest.</p>
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    <p>The merc woke up to the sound of droplets of rain banging hard against her window. She got up with a grumble. Supporting herself with her hands on the window sill, she looked outside. With a grey sky, the weather created a gloomy atmosphere which was just the perfect representation of how she's been feeling mentally since her last Relic malfunction. To outsiders, it might not seem like a big deal, but the whole Relic thing was surely taking its toll on V's mental well-being. As she was unsure about pretty much anything regarding her future, more and more dark thoughts were appearing in her head… all the time.</p>
    <p>The merc lazily put on a random black t-shirt and pants that supposedly once belonged to Johnny Silverhand himself. Some black sneakers, her favorite Samurai jacket she got from Rogue that one time and she was ready to go out into the pouring rain to face whatever gigs the fixers would find for her that day. After sending a quick good morning message to Judy, who was her biggest source of happiness, she walked out of the apartment. She took a look at Johnny's dog tags, which she proudly wore on her neck. Even though he annoyed her a lot, she still felt like the rockerboy was a friend to her. He saved her life afterall, didn't he?</p>
    <p>Entering the dirty old elevator that would bring her down to the parking lots,V started sinking into the realm of her imagination again. She hated how everything seemed so bittersweet. She felt so lucky that she had people that truly cared about her: Judy, Panam and many more. Hell, the sole fact of being loved by Judy felt so surreal yet so amazing to her. It was a dream come true and she wouldn't have traded it for anything if she could. On the other hand, the feeling that all of this was fleeting overwhelmed her. Never in her life had she felt as lost as she did in the last week or so. Ever since that moment she collapsed in the parking lot in front of Judy's apartment she felt like her mind's been playing tricks on her.</p>
    <p>As she was entering the Porsche an elevator ride later, a message from Judy appeared on V's phone screen.</p>
    <p>"<em>good mornin love! 3"</em></p>
    <p>V couldn't help but smile at the text. At least one thing to make her day just a little bit better. Judy helped her a lot. The fact that the techie was so supporting to her, even though it was obviously tough to her as well meant everything to V.</p>
    <p>As she turned the ignition on, another message appeared. A smile painted itself on V's face, as she reached for the phone, hoping to see another text from her output. However, the smile quickly turned to a frown of disappointment, as she noticed the message was from Regina Jones.</p>
    <p>The text was long and detailed, obviously meaning that it was something about a gig. Coordinates for a place somewhere in northern Kabuki were attached to it. Without a second thought, the merc put the cords onto her GPS and started making her way there. She would've lied if she claimed that she reads every detail about a gig carefully and profoundly. At least not until she gets to the required location. It might not be the best way a top tier merc like herself should work, but there hasn't been a single gig she's refused so far, so she figured that this time wouldn't be any different.</p>
    <p>Getting closed to the location marked on her map, she stopped her car in an alley a block or so away from the place. No point in getting yourself spotted this early, right? As the merc turned the ignition off, a strange silence emerged. Nothing could be heard except for the rain dropping on the windshield and the ambient noise of the neighborhood. She took her phone out, proceeding to read the gig's briefing, not missing any detail this time. By the looks of it, it was a simple hit, where she had to infiltrate a warehouse taken over by the Tiger Claws and eliminate a member of them. The picture attached to the message showed a Japanese man in his thirties, wearing a black and red, elegant suit. His name was Shoji Takumi and he was supposedly a former worker of Arasaka, who was now providing some sort of intel for Tiger Claws. What's more interesting is that he seemed to be a close associate of Maiko Maeda. A smirk appeared on V's face upon reading that. Ever since she has last encountered her, the merc felt a certain feeling of hatred towards the Asian woman. The way she doublecrossed her and Judy made V regret not killing her there at the spot.</p>
    <p>"<em>Kill a guy and delta" </em>Johnny appeared next to her with a smirk "<em>Plain and simple: just the way I like it"</em></p>
    <p>V couldn't help but also smirk at the rockerboy's remark. "<em>Let's go."</em> she said in a more serious tone after a couple seconds.</p>
    <p>After the merc got out of her car, she immediately noticed a staircase leading up to the rooftop of a three story apartment building, behind which the warehouse was supposed to be located. V walked up to a dumpster and carefully climbed on it. It was just high enough to make her be able to reach a ladder and climb the higher platform. After a while, she was already making her way up and a couple moments later, the mercenary found herself kneeling at the rooftop, observing the warehouse below her as the rain wetted her cheeks. There weren't that many gangsters on the lookout there, so it should be fairly easy. In and out.</p>
    <p>V dropped onto a shorter building just below her and using the high ground she's acquired, she hopped over a barbed wire fence separating the Tiger Claws hideout from the rest of the city. Landing with a calculated parkour roll, she quickly hid behind a container. A warning about entering a hostile area appeared in her vision. One of the goons could be seen in the corner of her eye. She scanned the man, temporarily revealing the positions of the other gangsters. Now she needed to somehow neutralize the guy, not drawing attention to herself in the process. The merc slowly walked in his direction, back pressed against the cold metal wall of the container. As she neared the edge of her hiding spot, she carefully peeked outside. Thankfully, the other two guards that were there wouldn't have seen her. With a couple quick moves, she made their way to the gangster and subdued him, choking him unconscious and dropping his body into a nearby dumpster shortly after.</p>
    <p>She glanced around the place, looking for a way into the building. However, she quickly realized that luck was there for her all along, as she noticed three containers, perfectly aligned to let her climb them and get into an open window. Without a second thought, she quickly made her way to them, trying her best not to get caught doing so by the remaining goons. V quickly climbed up the containers and a couple moments later, she was entering some sort of an office through the window.</p>
    <p>Looking around the room, it was pretty dark, with the only source light being the window and the grey sky and cloudy weather didn't do much to illuminate the place. Thankfully, the room she's just entered was unoccupied by any watching guards, however she could hear some conversations in Japanese just outside it. Peeking out of the doorframe, the merc noticed a pair of guards to her left. She could try to sneak past them, but that would prove useless as they would notice her instantly. On the other hand, she could try to separate the two. Smirking at the idea, she glanced at a vending machine located in the room. Having hacked the object, soda cans started popping out of it, making a lot of noise. The mercenary hid in a shadowed corner, waiting for her prey to enter the place. After a couple seconds a Japanese man walked in to investigate the source of the sound. Not wasting any time V quickly rendered him unconscious and made her way out of the room onto the metal platform.</p>
    <p>The second guard that was there before was missing. She carefully peeked around the railing and observed the ground level. A lot of mechanics and more Tiger Claws goons were there. They were repairing or modifying the sports cars and bikes the Japanese gang frequently used. At the other side of the warehouse, there was a room that, by the looks of it, must've been some sort of an office. There was a man sitting behind a desk there. His appearance was similar to the picture attached to the briefing, so she figured it must've been her target. V subconsciously nodded, making up a plan in her head. The metal platform she was on extended all the way through the warehouse, turning right at first but ultimately ending at the entrance to the office. She would use it to conveniently sneak past all the other gangsters.</p>
    <p>With her back pressed against the railing covered by metal plates on both its sides, V started moving through the platform. Trying her best to keep her breathing quiet and steady, she slowly crawled in the office's direction. She let out a nervous breath as she looked down to see a man beneath where she was standing. Had he looked up, he'd instantly noticed her through the lattice pattern of the metal platform. Frozen in place, she waited for the gangster to walk away, praying that he wouldn't notice her. As the man moved away, she sighed in relief and continued her crawl to her target. Thankfully, there were no more surprises waiting for her and a couple long minutes later, she found herself standing at the entrance to the office.</p>
    <p>Things could go a lot of ways from now on, so she decided to take out a gun. Her trusted Malorian Arms 3516, a power pistol that once belonged to Johnny Silverhand himself and one that she's grown to love so much over the course of multiple gigs and firefights. V closed her eyes for a moment and just focused on her breathing. In, out. In, out. Opening her eyelids and getting into a tactical stance, she was ready now. The mercenary barged into the room, quickly aiming the gun at her target on head level. She never hesitated when doing her gigs. V was surely full of care and compassion for the people she loved, but on the battlefield she turned into a heartless, cold-blooded killing machine ready to do whatever it takes.</p>
    <p>Her pulling the trigger was quick. But Shoji was quicker, as he pressed a button on the bottom of the desk, sounding the alarm merely a second before a bullet pierced through his brain, killing him instantly and sending a splash of blood at the wall behind him.</p>
    <p>"Well, fuck." V muttered, as she heard sounds of the Tiger Claws yelling something in Japanese and gearing up, while the alarm was ringing as loudly as ever.</p>
    <p>The merc took off not wasting any time, her sight set on the room she entered the building through. As bullets were flying passed her, she sprinted through the platform, making loud thuds whenever her foot hit the metal. Her heartbeat banging in her chest, as she felt like any wrong move could cost her life. Firing the gun at a gangster unfortunate enough to get in her way, she quickly shoved his body aside and made her way into the room. Not fucking around, V swiftly escaped through the window and found herself on the container she previously used as an entrance. It was still raining and the metal she was standing on was getting really slippery, which could easily cause a lot of damage, had she stopped paying great attention to her every move for a second. She took a glance at a fence which stood a couple feet away from the container. A decision had to be made, should she risk it all and try to jump over it from the container, or should she opt for a safer route? However, as bullets flew right passed her, she was taken out of her thoughts and put back into reality. There was no time to waste and she knew it. Trying her best not to fall on the slippery surface, she made a run for it and flew off the container, barely making it to the other side of the fence. For a second, she looked back at the warehouse in disbelief. She was really lucky to make it out alive, wasn't she? The merc blinked a couple times, focusing back on what mattered the most right now: escape. Sprinting to the alley where the Porsche was left, she made sure that no one followed her.</p>
    <p>V entered the car, panting heavily. She took out her phone and sent a message to Regina about the gig being now completed. Soon, 3000 eddies appeared on her bank account, making the merc smile subconsciously. She glanced at the notifications and noticed something strange. A couple unanswered calls from Judy and one from Panam. Concern painted itself on her phone, as she started wondering about what could be the catalyst of her output wanting to contact her so bad. Perhaps something bad happened? The thought of something happening to Judy was probably the worst fear the merc had. Without a second thought, she called up the techie's holo.</p>
    <p>"<em>V, finally!"</em> Judy picked up. A look of worry could be seen on her expression, which was even magnified once she saw an exhausted V</p>
    <p>"Judy! Are you ok? Did something happen?" V spat words out quickly, letting her worry take the best of her.</p>
    <p>"I'm fine, you gonk" Judy laughed softly, her face brightening up. "I was worried about you, you know?" she said in a more serious tone now "I had a break from work so I figured that I'd pay you a visit… so I stopped by your apartment and you weren't there. I tried calling you a couple times and you weren't answering… I thought about the worst, y'know?"</p>
    <p>"I'm sorry, Jude." a look of guilt appeared on V's face. "I was on a gig and…"</p>
    <p>"A gig?!" Judy crossed her arms and a hint of anger could be heard in her voice. "But you barely even recovered! V…" her tone softened a bit "Do you know how worried I am when I don't even know what's happening to you?"</p>
    <p>"I'm really, really, sorry." V sighed "I promise, from now on… I'll be telling you anything."</p>
    <p>"Thank you. Y'know, you're just very important to me and, and…" the techie stumbled on her words, trying to find something to say. She took a moment to breathe, looking away from the holo for a second, as V examined the emotions that could be seen in her. She felt really guilty for making Judy this worried and she knew that it was only her fault. "Anyway…" Judy looked at the holo again, this time speaking with more confidence in her voice "Panam called. Said she's in town for something and she'd like to meet up if we're down."</p>
    <p>V felt her face light up a bit. Finally something that would help her ease her mind a bit and, perhaps, let her forget about everything that's been happening around here. A day with the woman she loved the most and with her best friend was something she really needed.</p>
    <p>"That would be nova" V smiled "Do you… do you have time right now?"</p>
    <p>"It seems that I do!" A grin also appeared on Judy's face "Meet me at Lizzie's, okay?"</p>
    <p>
      <em>
        <strong>/</strong>
      </em>
    </p>
    <p>As the rain finally stopped pouring from the California sky, the legendary Porsche pulled up to the club owned by the Mox gang. V instantly noticed her beloved braindance expert beside the building, leaning against a wall with a cigarette in her mouth. The neon light coming from the bar's sign illuminated her hair, making it seem even more pink than it really was. V caught herself staring at the woman in awe for a second, captivated by nothing else than the limitless beauty Judy was always characterized by in her mind. There was only one small thing that bothered the merc: her output didn't smoke all that often, unless she was nervous. Stepping out of the car, she couldn't help but smile when she was approaching Judy, who now dropped her smoke and put it out with a swift movement of her shoe's sole.</p>
    <p>"Hey babe" V greeted her, giving her a soft smooch on the cheek.</p>
    <p>Without a word, Judy pulled her into a kiss. In that moment, it felt like all of their worries disappeared, even if for a couple seconds of uninterrupted bliss. Pulling away from the kiss, although still remaining in a warm embrace, she giggled softly as she looked into V's eyes, which were full of shock, but in the positive sense.</p>
    <p>"I needed this." Judy smiled, lovingly staring at the woman she adored so much.</p>
    <p>"I did too." V whispered softly, her breathes hitting the techie's neck.</p>
    <p>"But… I need to scold you." Judy said in a playful tone, her finger softly poking the spot where V's heart was. "I told you not to do any gigs right after a malfunction… and yet there you are, probably popping off some guys again."</p>
    <p>"I'm sorry, it's just… I can't really sit all day doing nothin' while…" V closed her eyes for a moment. She didn't want to ruin Judy's mood and talk about the cancer inside her head again, even though she perfectly knew that it was the techie's main source of concern. Right then, another thing was on her mind and while she probably could pin down the cause of Judy's nervousness leading to her ruining her lungs with yet another cigarette, she'd rather ask and get a direct answer. "What's going on?" she asked, her eyes glancing at the butt of the cig laying just at her feet.</p>
    <p>Judy pulled away from the hug with a slightly somber frown painting itself on her face.</p>
    <p>"I've been thinking about you." Judy softly touched V's cheek. "V, I'm fucking scared. About your condition and all of this… I need to know…" even though she hated it, she felt a tear appearing in the corner of her eye. "How much time do you have left?"</p>
    <p>"I… I don't know." the merc said in a slightly bleak tone. "Maybe a couple weeks… maybe days." her voice cracked at the end.</p>
    <p>Not a word came out of Judy's mouth, but V knew that the techie wasn't holding the weight of the worsening condition easily. That the thought of losing her output was absolutely devastating and every time she let it into her mind, it took everything else. Judy buried her face into V's neck, while the merc lightly kissed the top of her head to comfort her, maybe even both of them. Judy's warm embrace was the one thing that always managed to make V feel a little bit better, even if for a moment, even though everything about this was bittersweet.</p>
    <p>There were many moments like this, where Judy was at a loss for words, not knowing how to deal with all the feelings flowing through her heart. Conflicting thoughts appearing in her head. On one hand, she hated herself for falling in love with someone that was dying, but on the other hand she hated herself even more for even letting herself think like this. It obviously wasn't V's fault that she was like this. It was just… unfair.</p>
    <p>"I don't wanna lose you." Judy said, her voice muffled by V's skin touching her mouth. "I <em>can't</em> lose you"</p>
    <p>V wanted to reassure Judy. To tell her that everything's gonna be okay. That they'll live together and grow old in some cabin far away from the dirty, bustling streets of Night City. But she chose to stay quiet instead. It just didn't feel right to her, making Judy believe in something that she didn't know could even happen.</p>
    <p>Judy was somewhat burdened by the merc's lack of response. However, she chose to focus on the warm feeling of V's arms around her, while she was listening to her steady heartbeat. Her girlfriend's embrace was the place the techie felt safest. V was one of the few persons that knew the true Judy. She knew that whenever she felt vulnerable and lost in the deepest depths of despair that often creeped inside her head after Evelyn's passing, the merc would always be there to support her, to offer her a shoulder to cry on. But… for how long would she be there?</p>
    <p>Suddenly, a car parked behind them and a honk caused them to pull away from the embrace and look in the noise's direction. The source of her distraction was Panam herself, as she was just out of her easily recognizable nomad truck. As she approached them, the women exchanged friendly hugs and greeted each other. V couldn't help but smile at the fact that Judy and Panam have managed to become friends in such a short time. It was almost a dream come true to have her beloved output and her "sister" like each other.</p>
    <p>"<em>What, you're just gonna leave the Porsche here on this dirty parking lot?!" </em>Johnny appeared, shooting V an annoyed look once the three girls entered the car.</p>
    <p>"<em>Oh, c'mon, you know all the cars have autodrive enabled anyway." </em>V rolled her eyes</p>
    <p>"<em>Whatever." </em>Johnny crossed his arms, not bothering to look at V as he spoke "<em>At least you're not getting all mushy with your girl now that the nomad chick is here"</em></p>
    <p>"<em>Look at you, you say that yet you didn't even interrupt us earlier. How considerate of you." </em>V said with a sarcastic smirk appearing on her face<em>.</em></p>
    <p>Johnny rolled his eyes and flipped her off, disappearing into thin air shortly afterwards.</p>
    <p>"So, Panam." V turned to the 'nomad chick' as Johnny called her. "What are you doing in Night City again?"</p>
    <p>"Had to do a favor for a friend of mine." Panam shrugged "Did it and I figured I'd hang out with you girls. It's a pretty lazy day at camp today."</p>
    <p>"Let's get something to eat, huh? I'm starving" Judy suggested, changing the topic.</p>
    <p>"Yeah, sounds nova." Panam turned the ignition on and drove away.</p>
    <p>A fifteen or so minutes later they found an Asian restaurant near Kabuki Roundabout. The area was bustling with life at that time, as more and more customers were heading there to get something for lunch. V couldn't help but worry about the fact that they were in a neighborhood strictly controlled by the Tiger Claws. The curse that came with being a mercenary was recognizability, at least amidst the different gangs. With the amount of damage V has caused the Japanese gang over the course of many different gigs, including the one from earlier that day and the Clouds job which turned into a disaster for both parties involved, any Tiger Claws associate noticing her could inevitably lead to a catastrophe. Even though the worries plagued her mind, she tried her best to ignore them at least for a while and let herself enjoy a day out with the two of her favorite girls. Just before entering the restaurant, V took a couple of the omega blocker pills to prevent any potential relic malfunction from ruining their lunch, as it did the last time.</p>
    <p>Soon, the women sat down, ordered some meals and chatted away…</p>
    <p>
      <em>
        <strong>/</strong>
      </em>
    </p>
    <p>An hour has passed. The trio has already long since finished all of their food, drinks and conversations. Now that they were leaving the restaurant, V had no choice but to wonder about the bad things that haven't happened yet, but were still well inside the realm of possibility. While they were still eating and talking, she subconsciously kept herself on alert to be able to defend her loved ones in case anything goes wrong.</p>
    <p>As they were nearing the car which Panam parked at a small parking space on the other side of the Roundabout, the mercenary noticed something in the corner of her eye. A gold-plated Quadra, two Tiger Claws goons inside, stopped at the other side of the street.</p>
    <p>"Trouble." V hissed quietly, taking out her gun and signaling Panam to do the same, while softly pushing Judy aside to make her hide somewhere.</p>
    <p>The merc and the nomad hid behind a stone bench just big enough to cover the two of them, while a terrified Judy managed to find her hiding spot just behind Panam's truck. The mercenary breathed out in relief as she noticed her girlfriend taking cover. She knew that Judy could handle herself in tough situations like this one, but contrary to her and Panam, the techie wasn't carrying a gun, and her number one priority right now was to make sure she was safe. The two goons walked out of the Quadra and just as V suspected, bullets fired from two cheap Copperheads suddenly flew in their direction, barely hitting the small stone structure.</p>
    <p>The bangs caused by the gunshots created an atmosphere of terror on the roundabout, as people screamed in panic and a disarray of cars driving in all sorts of directions appeared on the street. It took mere seconds for the place to empty out, creating a perfect arena for the shootout to happen.</p>
    <p>V separated herself from Panam, quickly rushing to find cover behind a parked Archer while the nomad provided suppressive fire. One of the gangsters yelled something in Japanese to the other one. V didn't understand a thing, but she could've sworn that she heard him saying the name of her last gig's target. <em>Fuck.</em> This means she fucked up earlier and this sudden attack must have been somehow related to her getting caught during the hit. There was no time for overthinking now, as another bullet flew right passed her. She was now pinned down to the car, as peeking out of it would likely result in her own demise. Seconds later, a thud was heard: one of the men fell on his back with a bullet wound right to his head. A somewhat relieved smile appeared on her face. She looked at Panam, who gave her a thumbs up.</p>
    <p>She peeked out, but instantly cursed under her breath as a bullet hit the car's hood, ricocheting somewhere.</p>
    <p>No time to waste. When the gunfire stopped for a second, V jumped out of her cover and rushed through the empty street to get to her enemy. She slid behind the Quadra he was hiding behind and quickly fired a couple bullets in his direction. The man fell to the ground, dead, as a surprised look still remained on his face.</p>
    <p>"What the fuck was that about?!" Panam walked up to the mercenary, hiding her pistol as she looked at the two killed gangsters.</p>
    <p>"No clue." V replied rather coldly, kneeling in front of the one she's just eliminated.</p>
    <p>She searched through his pockets to find a shard that might've helped her identify the cause of the attack. Looks like the luck was at her side today, as she found one that was simply labeled <em>ORDERS</em>. The mercenary couldn't help but smile, although her smile was short-lived and quickly turned into concern as she heard a familiar voice from the other side of the street.</p>
    <p>"V…"</p>
    <p>As the merc turned around, she saw Judy in a state that seemed like the picture of all of her nightmares brought to life. Her face a canvas for all sorts of emotions: shock, disbelief and immense pain as she looked down to see a dark red gunshot wound forming itself on her stomach, her hands trembling as the thick, crimson liquid covered them. V was stuck frozen in place, as if time stopped for her. When Judy looked at her with a look of despair and desperation, she felt as if her whole world had come crashing down around her. She's never felt so helpless. Then the person she loved the most collapsed. With complete terror piercing every inch of her being, V rushed over to Judy and kneeled beside her, holding her weakened and fragile body. With her arms shaking from all the panic she caressed the woman's cheeks, desperately trying to make her pale face regain its colors.</p>
    <p>Judy has never felt this weak in her entire life. The pain coming from the wound was unbearable and all of her limbs felt almost unresponsive. Even though her left hand desperately clutching at the wound, blood was slipping through the cracks between her fingers, soaking her clothes and the ground underneath. With the sweet blanket of unconsciousness slowly covering her, she tried her best not to succumb to it, even if it felt like falling asleep would bring her relief. If not for V holding her head up to face her, it would surely fall helplessly to the ground. In the corner of her eye she noticed Panam frantically searching for something in the back of her truck, but the tears that appeared in her eyes successfully blocked off the view. V was saying something to her, but she couldn't understand a word due to the sleepiness that was, unfortunately, starting to take hold, making her hands feel more and more limp. The world around her was starting to get more and more blurry. Apparently amidst all the tears and panic, V managed to rip off a part of her t-shirt and put the fabric underneath her hand, successfully making the bleeding slower. Her output lightly slapped her cheek in desperation… but only after a harder slap came seconds later did she come back to reality.</p>
    <p>"Judy please, please, don't do this to me" a teary eyed V said, her voice shaking and full of panic as the horrible realisation of everything that was now happening came to her. Her girlfriend, the person that she loved the most, was now… dying and it was all because of her.</p>
    <p>The realisation came to Judy as well, creating a bubble of panic that her mind was now in. All of this was so unfair. She didn't want to fucking die. Tears flew from her eyes as she thought about the concept of dying and simply not existing. She just wanted all of this to be some sort of a bad dream. V softly caressing her cheek with her thumb calmed her down a bit, but it wasn't enough. Judy knew for a fact that her lover was just as terrified as she was, with her eyes full of fear, sadness and guilt.</p>
    <p>"V, I'm…" Judy mumbled, taking a second to swallow back the metallic taste that found its way into her throat "I'm scared…" words were becoming more and more difficult to form now.</p>
    <p>"Shh" V pressed a kiss onto Judy's forehead. "It's gonna be okay, you're gonna live Jude, it's okay, it's okay" she kept repeating like a mantra as her output was barely holding onto consciousness.</p>
    <p>Panam returned and rushed up to Judy with a concerned look on her face, kneeling beside her. The wounded woman didn't particularly know what was going on, as her mind was drifting in an infinite void, like she was a spaceman flying through the empty abyss of space. The nomad and the merc were talking about something, panic apparent in both of their voices, but Judy had trouble making out the words they were saying. Suddenly, Panam put a MaxDoc up to the techie's mouth, with V holding up her head to let her use the inhaler.</p>
    <p>"It's okay, baby, just breathe." V said softly, kissing the top of Judy's head.</p>
    <p>Judy took a puff of the inhaler, letting a couple seconds of euphoria that came with it flow through her system. The pain disappeared and the bleeding slowed down a bit, making way for a brand new feeling of determination. Determination to survive. Even though her eyelids were getting heavier with every passing second, looking into V's eyes made her believe that everything is going to be okay in the end. She heard Panam say a couple more things which she couldn't really understand and after a moment, she felt herself getting carried over to the back of the car, while everything spiraled around her. Even though she was hanging by a thread, the warmness that came with being in her output's loving arms was enough for her to feel somehow peaceful. Her vision was fading in and out, as the immense blood loss was finally taking its toll, letting unconsciousness take hold of her body.</p>
    <p>Now in a half-aware state, the techie felt as if she was losing grasp of reality. Her weakened body was laying on the truck's backseat, while V was softly stroking her hair with one hand, and holding the piece of fabric up to the wound with the other one. Even though all the sounds she was hearing were terribly distorted and muffled, V's worried, albeit calming voice was enough to reassure her that she will live. Judy could catch small glimpses of the moving outside world through the window, but her perception of where she was was now gone, with her diving into the lake of sleep every couple minutes. Her body was now almost completely limp, only her eyes were moving, trying to get a grasp on the places they passed through as Panam drove. A small part of her still wanted to scream at her not to succumb, but any last bit of strength she had in her system was now completely gone. After a couple more minutes, she was already out, letting herself fall into the void of blackness.</p>
    <p>
      <em>
        <strong>/</strong>
      </em>
    </p>
    <p>V was pacing back and forth around the alley smoking cigarette after cigarette, desperately trying to keep herself at least somewhat calm and convince herself that Judy was gonna be okay. An hour has passed since she and Panam rushed into Victor's clinic, carrying the barely alive Judy with looks of desperation painted on their faces. The ripperdoc was absolutely surprised, but being a professional, he instantly dropped everything else he was doing and put Judy on the operation table, knowing how extremely important saving her was to V. Her thoughts were racing all over her head, deep inside she knew that this whole situation wouldn't have happened, had she not fuck up during that gig earlier. Now Judy was wounded and unconscious and she couldn't take the fact that there was a slim possibility that she might not survive.</p>
    <p>"V." a hand touched her shoulder. She turned to see Panam, giving her a soft, reassuring smile. "I know just how much she means to you, I… whatever happens, I'm here for you, alright?"</p>
    <p>"I'm here for you too, V." another hand found itself on her shoulder. This time it was Misty.</p>
    <p>V tried her best to smile, but she was too overwhelmed with all of her emotions to make way for any sort of optimism. She sat down on the staircase leading down to Vic's clinic, not saying anything. The two women did the same, surrounding her and making her feel a bit safer.</p>
    <p>"Thanks, I… <em>fuck</em>…" she muttered, burying her face in her hands while she struggled to find any words to say. "I appreciate it, I really do." streaks formed by the now dried up tears on her cheeks were still visible.</p>
    <p>Panam softly patted V on the back, letting a little bit of warmth from her hand cross over to the merc's body.</p>
    <p>"When Jackie passed…" Misty started, looking away for a second as tears built up in her eyes. After wiping them, she continued "I felt as if my whole world came crashing down. But I made it through and sometimes, I still feel like he is looking down at me from wherever he is" a bittersweet smile formed on her face "But V…" she placed a hand on V's leg and looked her straight into the eyes "Judy will make it. I believe in it, I somehow feel it inside."</p>
    <p>"I just can't bear the thought that…" V shook her head, trying her best to hold back tears "She might still die… because of me."</p>
    <p>"Sometimes we can't control how our fates unravel." Misty said in a serious tone "But you know how amazing Vic is. He'll do whatever it takes to make her live."</p>
    <p>"We saved her, V" Panam spoke, making V turn in her direction "I was there and I've seen it in her eyes. She's a fighter, won't give up that easily." she continued.</p>
    <p>"I know." V chuckled quietly "If I know one thing for a fact, it's that Judy isn't the type to give up."</p>
    <p>"Also, the fuck is up with those cancer sticks, huh?" Panam turned her attention to the pack of cigarettes that V smoked out earlier and was now lying squashed on the pavement, as she tried to lighten up the mood just a bit.</p>
    <p>"Fuckin' Silverhand made me start smoking." V said with a little smirk appearing on her face, making Panam chuckle softly.</p>
    <p>Speak of the devil - Johnny just appeared in front of V. He was leaning against the wall at the bottom of the staircase with his arms crossed.</p>
    <p>"<em>You're lucky."</em> the rockerboy said</p>
    <p>"<em>How exactly?" </em>V shot him a confused glare</p>
    <p>"<em>You have all these chooms that support you…" </em>he started "<em>You know a great ripperdoc who agreed to save your barely living girlfriend. I wasn't that lucky, when…" </em>he frowned, not finishing the sentence.</p>
    <p>"<em>I know, Johnny…" </em>V couldn't help but feel sorry for the man, knowing what happened to Alt and how he tried to save her, unsuccessfully. "<em>Fuck, sometimes I think that if there is a god, he threw some sort of a curse over me with all of these bad things happening all the time."</em></p>
    <p>Johnny chuckled, taking out a cigarette.</p>
    <p>"<em>I'm sorry V."</em> he took a puff of the cig "<em>All our gods have abandoned us."</em></p>
    <p>At that moment, the door opened. The three women immediately looked in anticipation, as a tired Victor walked out of the clinic. V could feel her heartbeat race faster and faster, knowing that there were two outcomes to this situation. With every atom she had in her body, she hoped that her worst fear would not come true. As Victor opened his mouth to say the words, a glimpse of hope and relief could be seen in his eyes.</p>
    <p>"She'll live."</p>
  </div>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>All of this angst drained me, but I loved writing this.</p><p>I also wanted to mention that, unfortunately, from now on the chapters are not gonna come out as frequently as they did for now due to school and other personal things that are happening in my life right now. However, I'll do whatever it takes to finish this story as I love being able to share this with all the people and it makes me more than happy when I see the positive things you've got to say about it!</p><p>I love reading your comments and responding to them, so please write to me if you have any thoughts you'd like to share! :)</p><p>See you next chapter,<br/>FoxyGuy87</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Hanging By A Thread</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
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<p></p><div class="storytext xcontrast_txt nocopy"><p>As her eyelids were now getting heavy, the mercenary was sitting on a cold metal chair in a back room of Viktor's clinic. In front of her was a makeshift bed on which Judy was laying, her body in a state of coma. V was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Traces of tears stained her cheeks, tears that she cried out when she saw her beloved girlfriend laying on that bed, she was desperately begging her to wake up but every attempt proved to be in vain. Pictures of <em>that</em> scene flashed through V's mind: Judy's beautiful face changing colors to a pale shade, her hands trembling as she looked in panic at V before collapsing on the ground. A look of desperation and fear for her life that painted itself over Judy's face, as the crimson liquid slipped through her fingers, staining her clothes and spilling out into the hard concrete. V could pinpoint exactly how she was feeling at that moment: an overwhelming amount of fear was rushing through her body as she watched life being drained out of the one she loved the most. The immense heartache she felt as she looked into Judy's dark eyes filled with despair. Terror, that she felt as she was on the verge of losing the person that mattered the most to her. It felt as if all of her deepest nightmares had come true and her entire world was crashing down right in front of her. She couldn't help but feel an overwhelming feeling of guilt, knowing that all of this was solely a consequence of her previous actions, even though Misty and Panam kept on telling her this wasn't the case. The dark quietness of the place she was in made her mind escape into the one place she never wanted to be: her thoughts. The attack they've barely survived made her wonder about something that she never wanted to let inside her head. Sometimes she wondered if Judy wouldn't just be better off without her, as irrational as that might feel to an outsider. Even though she helped the techie with a lot of things and offered her emotional support in countless situations, she often felt like she was just nothing more than a burden for the girl to carry, a cause of a lot of her suffering. How would things unfold had V never walked into Lizzie's Bar in the first place? Would Evelyn still be alive, or would she just find someone else to do the heist, ultimately leaving her in the same condition? Would Jackie still be alive? One thing she knew for sure: it was more than likely that she would've never met Judy in the first place, but on the other hand Judy wouldn't be laying here in a fucking coma.</p><p>V shook her head, letting the thoughts go away for a while. She focused on watching the techie, as her chest was rising and falling again and again, her breathing and heartbeat both stable. With every smallest movement that Judy unconsciously made, V felt her heart stop, desperately hoping that her output would wake up and that she would hear her adorable, raspy little voice just one more time.</p><p>She stepped up to the bed and gently sat at its side. Lightly shoving away the blanket that was covering Judy, V softly laid her head on the woman's chest, careful not to press it too hard. She closed her eyes, listening to the heartbeat for a couple of seconds. Having pulled away, she softly caressed Judy's cheeks, looking at the sleeping techie's face for a few moments. The merc felt a sharp stab of sadness in her heart as she was staring into her love's closed eyes, wishing that they would open for her in that moment. A couple tears fell across her cheeks, but she quickly wiped them away.</p><p>"You'll be okay soon, babe. I promise" she practically whispered, pressing a soft kiss on Judy's forehead, before pulling away and returning to her chair.</p><p>V felt so grateful to Victor for letting Judy rest in his clinic. The merc and the ripperdoc have set up a makeshift bed for her to lay in, which was placed in the back of his clinic, behind the operational chair and all of his equipment. While Vik was working on something in his office, he told her to watch over the wounded woman and to immediately notify him in case anything goes wrong. The techie was meant to stay in the clinic until her condition got more stable. She also felt extremely grateful to Panam, who agreed to stay with her, even though she obviously had to return to her camp, which wasn't a short drive away. As the nomad was now gone, searching for something to eat, V was left in silence, with the clicking of Victor's keyboard and the beeps of the ECG monitor Judy was hooked up to being the only sounds somehow filling it. The merc hasn't left the techie's side for a second since Vic announced that she was gonna leave and she couldn't help but feel very sleepy as of now. To say that V lost her track of time would be an understatement. It's been four, maybe five hours since she walked into the clinic. Vik and Panam didn't even try to make her leave though, knowing that she would resist anyway.</p><p>A sudden sound abruptly took the merc out of her thoughts. She looked behind her to see her nomad friend entering the clinic with a plastic bag in her hand. Taking out a couple long, tortilla looking objects, she gave each of them to V and Viktor, before finally sitting on a chair next to the merc with the one she saved for herself.</p><p>"Got us some food." Panam said, opening what seemed to be one of those synth-meat kebabs. A 'thank you' could be heard coming from Viktor's direction.</p><p>V blankly stared at the piece of food, as if she was contemplating its existence. She had to admit, she did feel hungry, but all of her appetite was lost due to everything that's happened during the course of the day.</p><p>"You need to eat, V." after taking a bite of her own food, the nomad leaned over V speaking in a soft voice</p><p>The merc lazily took a bite and while it didn't taste bad, any enjoyment that could've been had from the bite was hiding beneath a thick layer of negative emotions. She glanced at the sleeping Judy, memories of their time spent together rushing through her mind.</p><p>"I fucked up, Pan" V sighed, her sight focused on her unconscious output</p><p>"V…" Panam said "Look at me" she softly turned V's head in her own direction "She's gonna be just fine, alright? You did good. You saved her"</p><p>"I don't know… all of this… it could've been prevented" a look of uncertainty was apparent on V's face as she spoke</p><p>"But it happened." Panam's delivery turned more firm. "Also, you really need to get some rest." she put her kebab into a nearby table, crossing her arms</p><p>"I'm resting now." V said in a sarcastic tone. After a second she let out a yawn, her eyes rolling afterwards. "You're right. I'm pretty fuckin' exhausted"</p><p>"Let's finish our food and let's get you home, okay?" Panam's tone was back to a softer one as she was looking caringly into V's eyes</p><p>"But… Judy." V's glare turned to her sleeping beauty once again "I can't leave her like this. What if, what if she wakes up, or, or something… and I'm not there…" a hint of panic could be heard in her voice</p><p>Suddenly she felt a comforting touch on her shoulder.</p><p>"I'll watch over her." she heard a deep, male voice. It was Viktor. "Anything happens, I'll give you a call."</p><p>V felt a sudden flow of warmth into her heart, taken aback by the ripperdoc's proposition.</p><p>"Vik… wow, thank you…" the merc stuttered "I don't even know what to say."</p><p>"Don't mention it" Viktor smirked "From the moment you walked in here with her, I knew there is something more between the two of you" he winked, causing a slight flush of red to appear on V's cheeks "As I said, I'll do anything to make sure she's alive and well." he continued.</p><p>"You're the best, Vik." V smiled genuinely.</p><p>"Now go and get some rest, kid!" he gave her a pat on the shoulder, returning to his desk.</p><p>
      <em>
        <strong>/</strong>
      </em>
    </p><p>Walking out of the clinic, V could feel a certain heaviness on her eyelids as she was following Panam back to her truck. The feeling she felt was even magnified by the darkness of the sky above them. She could feel herself getting a bit confused at the thought of just how much time has passed during her stay with Judy in the clinic. The merc really lost her track of time, didn't she?</p><p>As the two entered the truck, not a word was said, each of the women lost in their own individual worlds. The short drive back to V's apartment started with Panam rapidly changing radio stations, silence being the last thing she wanted to hear. The merc didn't really pay attention to the sounds of the outside world, as she was now venturing into the realm her mind had created for all of the thoughts that emerged in her head ad nauseam. She could feel a swell of emotion built up in her throat as she pictured a pale, bloody image of her output once again, but she tried her best to suppress the feelings, not wanting to make another scene. Panam has suffered enough, being witness to not only V, but now also Judy being in a terrific situation, the merc really didn't need to make her choom carry the burden of trying to comfort her once again.</p><p>A hand was placed on V's thigh as the car stopped in front of H10. She looked left to see Panam looking at her, her expression soft and reassuring.</p><p>"Don't blame yourself V." she said in a genuine, consoling tone "It's gonna be okay."</p><p>V nodded, trying to put on a bright face. The nomad would probably have to be blind to not notice just how forced the smile was, but she didn't say anything.</p><p>"Thank you Panam… for everything." V said, leaving the car. She took one last glance at her Aldecaldo friend, who was trying her best to make the merc feel just a little bit better, before shutting the door and making her way to the building's elevator.</p><p>The inside of the elevator felt claustrophobic: with more and more emotions building up in V's throat, stinging at the corners of her eyes, she felt like the walls were about to cave in on her, suffocating her to death. Even though she was alone in the small room, she was focused on not letting the tears find an escape from her eyes, as if she was expecting someone to judge her the second they see her in that state. Pictures of everything that has happened flashes in front of her, with the wound forming on Judy's stomach being the common denominator to all of her thoughts. It was like that memory was a parasite, consuming all the positive feelings to make a home for itself in her mind. She thought of Panam as well. Why was the nomad so… nice, so compassionate and so helpful to her? V couldn't help but feel like such a burden to the other woman, a pain in the ass, an anchor bringing her down. She could feel goosebumps run through her spine, as she desperately tried to get the thought of her head. Another thing slightly confused her: why wasn't Johnny commenting on anything, like he always used to do? Maybe he could somehow relate to her? Well, obviously he could because he essentially felt everything that she did, but could it have been something deeper, more personal than just that? It made her wonder about his memories regarding losing Alt. It was possible that he felt just as helpless and desperate then as she did now.</p><p>A couple minutes later V stumbled into her apartment. She instantly threw herself onto the bed, not even bothering to turn on the lights or clean herself up a bit. All she wanted for now is just to disappear into the realm of her dreams, hopefully as a form of an escape from the reality that was starting to overwhelm her. Whatever happened though, she had her mind focused on Judy. As she thought of her girlfriend, lying there in a coma, unable to process what's going on around her… it all felt so surreal, even though she's spent the entire day by her side. Every inch of V's being begged desperately for Judy to be okay. After a while she felt the bubble of emotions in her throat get too enormous to control, with it busting shortly after. She felt herself start to shake, as her teeth pressed into her bottom lips, the action followed by a series of uncontrolled sobs as her breathing grew ragged. The woman buried her face in the pillow with her blue hair almost shielding her vulnerable face from the rest of the world, as tears soaked the fabric. There she was: defeated. The legendary merc, curled up in a fetal position while every last tear escaped her eyes, as if they were waiting for this moment for a very long time. As if it were a mantra, the words "it's gonna be okay" kept quietly coming out of her mouth, growing quieter and quieter with every minute, as her exhaustion and the heaviness of her eyelids were starting to take hold. Soon enough, she couldn't tell what was real anymore as she drifted off to sleep.</p><p>The next morning V found that the simple act of getting up suddenly got more difficult than ever before. She wiped her eyes, letting out a yawn as she reached for her phone. Her first instinct was to check for any messages from Judy, but sadness quickly found its way into her mind as she suddenly remembered the past events. She felt herself sigh with a frown suddenly appearing on her face. However, her brain quickly went into a variation of panic mode as she noticed an unanswered call from Viktor about an hour ago. It was 7 AM when she woke up, so something must've happened to trigger Vik calling her at such an early hour. Did something happen to Judy? The thought alone sent a shiver down her collarbone. Without hesitation, V dialed up the ripperdoc's holo. Thankfully, he picked up almost instantly.</p><p>"Vik… d-did something happen?" she stuttered, mildly panicked. It wasn't until a second later that she noticed a relaxed expression in the man's face.</p><p>"Relax, V… I got good news" Vik comforted her "Looks like Judy's regaining consciousness. She woke up for a second like an hour ago. Was in a delirious, half aware state, pretty much, blurted out some nonsense and went back to sleep. But it's a very good sign nonetheless" he smiled</p><p>V felt a massive grin of relief appear on her face. She definitely did feel a level of excitement at the thought of her beloved girlfriend getting better.</p><p>"But…" Viktor added, making V's excitement disappear immediately. There's always a but, right? "Got some bad news too" he frowned</p><p>The merc felt her heart sink back into her chest.</p><p>"Now don't worry, it's not as bad it might seem to be" he reassured her "It's just that… I've got some high-demanding patients today and I won't be able to look over her. It would be best if you took her somewhere she can rest peacefully. I will obviously help you with transport, but-"</p><p>"Vik, I don't know shit about this medical stuff" V cut him off, a mix of fear and slight anger could be heard in her voice "All I could possibly do is give her some MaxDocs, but what the fuck am I supposed to do if something bad happens and… and… I-I don't want her to… <em>flatline</em>" she stuttered, her voice cracking at the end, a couple tears appearing in her eyes at the thought of her output meeting her demise because of the merc's shortcomings.</p><p>"Calm down, V" Viktor said, his tone was almost demanding "Her condition is stable" he continued, returning to his softer delivery "Nothing bad will happen to her. This much I know for sure"</p><p>"A-are you sure?" V said, trying to hold back a sob that has built up in her throat</p><p>"I'm one hundred and more percent sure, V"</p><p>The merc took a few deep breaths. "Alright. I'll be there soon" she declared having managed to calm herself down a bit</p><p>"That's the spirit." Vik smiled "See ya, V"</p><p>As the man hung up, V felt herself sigh before taking off the worn out clothes she fell asleep in. She lazily stumbled into the shower, turning the water and letting the warm, relaxing liquid rain over her naked body. Although she couldn't have been more glad knowing that Judy is going to be perfectly okay, a part of her still felt a dose of fear over having to take care over her by herself, not having Vik at the other side of the room, ready to intervene in case anything goes wrong.</p><p>The merc felt a sudden headache appear, with the familiar blue glitches distorting her vision and a <em>RELIC MALFUNCTION DETECTED</em> alert at the top. <em>Not this fuckin' bullshit again… </em>The pain was followed by a cough, which she tried her best to control but simply couldn't. It might've lasted for no more than a few seconds, but for her it felt like an eternity. Her throat was painfully swollen when the cough finished and her hands were covered in blood which also managed to stain the wall she was leaning on. She cursed under her breath, looking down at the reddened water flowing down the drain.</p><p>"<em>You're a fuckin' mess V, you know that?"</em> an all too familiar voice could be heard behind her. She turned around to see Johnny on the other side of the bathroom. Quite some time has passed since he'd last showed up.</p><p>"<em>Damn, could you stop showing up when I'm naked? Thanks." </em>she said, with a hint of irritation in her voice</p><p>"<em>I mean… Not that I complain." </em>the rockerboy smirked, looking straight at her breasts as if to annoy her even more</p><p>"<em>So, what's this about?" </em>V rolled her eyes "<em>Cause I doubt you'd show up just to complement my fuckin' breasts… Huh, on a second thought, that's probably not even that far-fetched"</em></p><p>"<em>Ha, that's a good one"</em> Johnny chuckled, taking off his sunglasses "<em>Look, V…" </em>his tone suddenly turned serious. And the merc knew that when Silverhand got serious, it implied that he truly meant business</p><p>"<em>I know that you and the BD chick are close, I understand that you're worried about her, I really do…" </em>he continued "<em>But the thing is, you don't have time to stay by her side all that time. There are more important things right now. We don't want you flatlining because of a fuckin' Relic malfunction do we? Go to that corpo bitch from Arasaka and finish this, whatever it takes."</em></p><p>"<em>First of all, the BD chick has a name, y'know." </em>V said, causing Johnny to roll his eyes "<em>Second… Hanako can wait. Judy can't. I need to be by her side, because it's my fuckin' fault that she even is in this situation-"</em></p><p>"<em>Yeah, Hanako can wait"</em> he interrupted her "<em>But death won't wait. So choose wisely."</em> the rockerboy disappeared, as a hint of annoyance could be heard in his voice.</p><p>V sighed, walking out of the shower and taking some random clothes out of her wardrobe. She didn't care about any armor enhancements she had on many of her jackets and other pieces of clothing; it's not like she was gonna do any gigs today anyway. Picking a cheap breakfast burrito from the vending machine in her apartment, she walked out. Destination: Viktor's clinic.</p><p>
      <em>
        <strong>/</strong>
      </em>
    </p><p>An exhausted V collapsed onto the sofa, letting out a sigh upon landing. She glanced around the spacious apartment - that was certainly something that she envied Judy for. A couple hours have passed since her latest visit at Vik's. The sleeping techie was carefully transported to her home by V, Misty and Viktor. Making sure she was safe along with all of the equipment she needed such as an IV and an EGC monitor she was hooked up to, was not the easiest of tasks and the merc definitely found it tiring. As her vision focused on different aspects of her output's apartment, more and more memories came into her mind. The robot Judy was building still wasn't finished. V felt herself smile looking at it, remembering the remark Johnny made about the merc getting all mushy when she saw Judy looking at her. She had to admit, she could feel the butterflies in her stomach every time she thought of her even to this day. Even though the techie was now peacefully sleeping in the neighboring room, V could feel an overwhelming amount of sadness mixed with guilt every time she thought about the condition plaguing her. The conditions that were plaguing both Judy and V, to be more exact. The simple thought of Judy almost dying was too much to bear, but the thought of her beloved techie having to witness the merc falling prey to an overwhelming disease was just something completely different.</p><p>Wouldn't it be easier if V had just disappeared now, sparing Judy the trauma of watching her die in front of her eyes? <em>Wait… did she just seriously think that?</em> V could feel a shiver run through her spine as she analyzed the thought that had creeped into her head. She shook her head and stood up from the couch, trying to make it go away.</p><p><em>Just focus on something else…</em> She walked into the kitchen and grabbed one of the stools that stood there, bringing it with her into Judy's bedroom. The merc could feel herself froze, a pit forming in her stomach as she looked at her sleeping output, hooked up to all these machines. She felt something in her throat again, along with a sudden urge to cry but it seemed like there were no tears left for her. With a sigh, she slowly put the stool at the side of Judy's bed and sat down.</p><p>She held Judy's hand in her own, softly caressing the top of it with her thumb.</p><p>"Baby, please. Just… wake up" she whispered with her voice barely audible. It cracked at the end, emotions taking the best of her.</p><p>The merc shook her head, scratching at the back of it and letting out a heavy sigh. These feelings really would be her downfall, huh? Glancing around the room, in one of the corners she spotted her acoustic guitar she'd brought from her apartment after Judy had been safely transported, knowing just how much the techie loved hearing her play. She picked up the instrument by its neck. A blue light flickered as V started softly strumming on the strings: it was Johnny, who appeared in the room, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, ready to criticize any mistake the woman would make.</p><p>While some sort of a melody unfolded, V didn't notice the rockerboy giving her a thumbs up in approval - she was too focused on her own thoughts and the things she was feeling. She could picture an analogy being made between life and a song. Each has its set beginning and end: with the first note of a musical piece symbolising birth. A climax of sorts, whether it's a guitar solo, a drop or a breakdown, would represent an experience which would change the course of one's life forever. And once the last note has been played, life is over, leading into something unknown, whether it's just plain black nothingness or a form of afterlife. V felt as if she's already been past the climax, stuck somewhere in between that and the last note, most certainly heading towards the latter. A deeply depressing thought to be sure. Could anything even be changed? Was her fate even in her hands, or was it a case of fatum, where everything would be up to whatever higher power was up there, controlling the universe? Could have all of this pain and suffering that the aftermath of the Arasaka heist brought to everyone around her be avoided? V would've given anything to revert the deaths of Jackie and Evelyn. She would've also given anything to be a part of the future she'd envisioned for herself and Judy: buying an apartment together somewhere far, far away from Night City and living peacefully, not having to worry about the inevitability of death itself. Looking at the sleeping woman, she couldn't help but feel a massive void eating away at herself. She thought her number one priority was making sure Judy didn't suffer because of her… and it seems like she's failed at that. Deep down V just… wanted everyone to be happy. Even if she met her unfortunate demise, the last thing she'd do is Judy grieving for her and falling into a depression of sorts - which wasn't nowhere near being out of the realm of possibility. Dark, bitter thoughts like this were plaguing her mind more and more with every day that passed by.</p><p>It was time to put her thoughts into words. Never stopping the strumming, V carried out a note with her soft voice, keeping it quiet almost as if she didn't want to wake Judy up. Shortly, the singing transformed into a lyric.</p><p>"<em>Don't you cry for me when I'm gone."</em></p><p><em>That… that was powerful.</em> V felt a couple of tears fall from her eyes as she put the guitar down, not taking her eyes off Judy for a single moment. It was a moment of pure, uncut desperation.</p><p>"<em>Look, V…"</em> Johnny took out one of his cigarettes and lit it up. "<em>There's something I've learned back during my time with the band, something that I'll probably never forget, as cheesy as that sounds" </em>he let out a chuckle. V observed him carefully as he spoke. "<em>On one of the tours, this guy from another band told me something along the lines of: 'your best songs come out of things you should forget'. He was probably stoned as fuck, hell, we all were back then."</em> the rockerboy smiled and scratched the back of his neck, taking a puff of the cigarette. "<em>But you can't deny, there is some wisdom in that."</em></p><p>"<em>I… I'm not sure I understand."</em> V frowned</p><p>"<em>The thing is…" </em>Johnny paused and took a puff out of his cigarette "<em>Suffering makes your creative mind feel right at home, as fucked as that sounds. I've experienced this before. Every artist has. You ever wonder why most of the songs you hear on the radio are about love, heartbreak or other things like that? This is exactly why."</em> he made another pause, closing his eyes for a moment, searching for the right words to say "<em>Sometimes we don't want to forget. We'd rather pour our hearts out onto a piece of paper or into a song."</em></p><p>"<em>Wow, Johnny, that's…." </em>V sat there, unable to say a thing. The last thing she'd expect is to hear such a philosophical speech from the man inside her head. She had to admit though, hearing him talking about something with this level of passion was somewhat hypnotizing.</p><p>"<em>Everyone is fucked up, V. Hell, we're the living, breathing examples of that." </em>he chuckled "<em>I understand why you're losing hope." </em>his tone turned into a serious, albeit softer one "<em>Truth be told, there are no happy endings in this city. Not for people like us."</em></p><p>"<em>I just don't know what to do, choom." </em>V shook her head "<em>What if something doesn't work out? I can't just leave Judy like that."</em></p><p>"<em>Hanako."</em></p><p>"<em>I'm not gonna soul my soul to fuckin' Arasaka like that."</em> V hissed</p><p>"<em>Nobody is saying anything about sellin' your soul!" </em>Johnny spat out, with a hint of annoyance present in his voice "<em>Fuck, V, I'd be the last person in all of Night City to as much as suggest that. It's simple, really. You go to her and check out her offer. Then politely decline, as it's common knowledge that doing shit for Arasaka does wonders for… well, nobody but Arasaka. But, whatever she tells you might give you an opportunity to fuck over those pricks in some other way."</em></p><p>"<em>Whatever."</em> V said "<em>I… fuck, I'm not ready for that. It just feels like… like a point of no return."</em></p><p>"<em>Cause it is a point of no return. But time isn't running in our favor, V. You'd have to find a way sooner or later, if you wanna live."</em></p><p>"<em>Fuck, man…" </em>V shook her head as she felt a swell of emotion building up in her throat "<em>Why does everything have to be so difficult… Why can't everyone just be okay?" </em>she looked at Judy as her voice cracked at the end, a tear escaping from her eye.</p><p>"<em>Get yourself, together, V." </em>Johnny sighed "<em>Remember that I feel everything you're feeling, right? It's not easy for me either."</em> The rockerboy took one last puff out of his cigarette before flickering away into nothingness.</p><p>V was left alone. Again. With only an unconscious Judy by her side, she was ready to get lost in her thoughts once again, as much as she hated when that happened. She kept thinking about what the rockerboy had said to her merely minutes earlier. His speech about suffering in art was really powerful - definitely more so than she expected something that came out of his mouth to be. It showed that beneath all of the cynicism, he was still a wise man, who definitely knew what he was talking about. The merc sometimes wished she had the determination he'd always show. That part of her was long gone - it died somewhere along the way, perhaps with Jackie or Evelyn. Maybe it was still there, hidden somewhere deep beneath multiple layers of hopelessness and uncertainty. It would reappear whenever she was with Judy - with their minds and bodies intertwined everything suddenly seemed possible and she felt alive again. She wanted to live for and with Judy. But when she was sitting in that quiet bedroom, with the unconscious techie at her side V was at an all time low. Even though Judy was safe, saved and quickly recovering, the remorse the merc couldn't help but feel was overshadowing everything else.</p><p>Something abruptly took her out of her thoughts: it was the ringing of her holo. An unknown caller… <em>interesting. </em>The merc shrugged and picked up, her curiosity taking the best of her. Much to her surprise, the person that appeared in front of the holo was none other than that pink haired Mox bouncer girl from Lizzie's. <em>Rita was her name?</em></p><p>"<em>Hey, V, right?"</em> the woman said "<em>Got your number from Judy a while back"</em></p><p>"Yeah. What do you want?" there was a certain coldness to V's tone. She wasn't really in the mood for talking about business or gigs and what else would a Mox bouncer want from a merc.</p><p>"<em>Ayy… I'm not calling you to offer you a gig or anything, okay?"</em> Rita was visibly taken aback by V's cold response. The merc also noticed an unusual concern painted on the Mox's face: a far departure from her usual tough appearance. "<em>You seen Judy around? She's not responding to my calls or anythin'"</em></p><p>"Why, did Susie tell you to call me to get back her main source of income or what?" V still didn't let her guard down</p><p>"<em>Fuck, V, that's not what I-" </em>Rita shook her head and pinched the top of her nose, looking down for a couple seconds. "<em>Judy is my friend, okay?"</em> her tone softened "<em>I'm just like really fuckin' worried. It's unusual for her to be this quiet out of a sudden, and I thought-"</em></p><p>"She got shot." V cut the bouncer off. The merc has recognized Rita's concern as genuine and she decided to get straight to the point, not being in the right mood to have a long conversation.</p><p>"<em>What… is she…"</em> a look of shock and horror was painted on Rita's face. V couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt as she looked at the woman's reaction. Suddenly finding out that your friend's been severely wounded would be horrifying for anyone, wouldn't it?</p><p>"She's alive, just… she's been sleeping for, like, the whole day." V sighed "I'm sorry, Rita. I didn't mean to be so harsh. It's just… there's a lot of shit on my mind lately, y'know?"</p><p>"<em>It's okay, I mean… fuck…"</em> the woman's voice was still trembling, still full of distress. "<em>Uhh, just let me know when she wakes up, okay?"</em> she added after she'd calmed herself down a bit.</p><p>"Will do."</p><p>The call ended.</p><p>V sighed, leaning back into the chair. She looked at Judy and couldn't help but feel tears building up in her eyes again. <em>Please, just let her fucking wake up…</em> The merc moved closer to the sleeping woman and lightly caressed her cheek, her thumb softly stroking it. She gave Judy a kiss on the forehead, before pulling away, making a couple tears stain the woman's blanket in the process. She could feel all of these emotions building up again and she just knew that the dam holding them back was about to break, making them pour out like a flood. The merc hid her head in her palms, blocking her vision and letting the tears fall onto her clothes, as she started sobbing again.</p><p>"Judy… just wake up… please." she said in between the sobs, the words she was saying barely recognizable.</p><p>It was like everything else disappeared. It was just V and her thoughts. Until...</p><p>"<em>V… don't… cry"</em> she heard a weakened voice. A voice that she's been craving to hear for such an absurdly long time.</p><p>With tears blurring her vision, she looked up to see Judy.</p><p>She was awake, looking at V with her weak eyes.</p></div></div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>EDIT: At the time of writing this edit it’s the 5th of February. I just wanted to apologize for the long ass waiting time for the next chapter. I can’t find that much time to write so yeah, it’ll probably take a few more days. About 3000 words have been written for the chapter so far, which will probably be about half of its overall length. </p><p>_____</p><p>Okay, first of all: I hope this chapter is at least on par with the previous ones. Writing it was pretty hard for me since 1) it's like 100% angst and 2) I didn't really have much time nor energy to write, so yeah it was pretty difficult.</p><p>On a second note, I wanted to thank each and every one of you for all of the support you've given me on this story. Every comment, kudos, bookmark etc. means a lot to me. I love reading your thoughts about the story I'm trying my best to convey, so don't be afraid to leave a comment! :)</p><p>The next chapter is gonna be less angsty, I promise haha! </p><p>See you in chapter numero 7<br/>FoxyGuy87</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Dancing In The Pale Moonlight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was… surreal, to be honest. V could feel herself getting lost in Judy's weakened, albeit loving eyes, a kaleidoscope of emotions appearing in her mind all at once. The tears that stained her cheek just mere seconds ago were now tears of happiness, which she couldn't stop from coming out as she saw life return to her output's eyes. At that moment in time it felt like all of the bad events that occurred during the last few days were obliterated completely, leaving space for a brighter future to come. To see Judy awake again was something truly remarkable.</p><p>"Judy… I…" V felt herself unable to speak, overwhelmed by the feelings.</p><p>Not saying anything else, she leaned over Judy and lightly placed her head on the woman's chest, listening to her heartbeat and the quiet beeps of the ECG monitor, which served as a reminder to call Vik and update him on the techie's condition, but that could come later. All V wanted to do now was to enjoy being in Judy's true presence once again.</p><p>"My… head…" her beloved techie's raspy and full of pain voice was enough to put V out of her trance. She instantly sat back on the stool.</p><p>"You're gonna be okay, Jude." V gave the woman a reassuring smile and softly kissed her forehead. "Hang in there baby, I'll get you some water." she added before leaving the room and heading into the kitchen.</p><p>When Judy woke up, she felt uncertain about her position in time and space. The last thing she remembered was blacking out in the back of the truck and now she found herself in a room that, to her dizzy mind, resembled nothing more than a cluster of abstract shapes. However, the moment she recognized V, more and more objects suddenly became familiar and she realized that she was, in fact, somehow in her own bedroom. At first, she felt overwhelmed by the confusion but memories started to come back to her quite quickly. Even though it was getting difficult to think with a piercing headache she woke up with, pictures of the events that unfolded prior have entered her head. She could remember everything: the controlling pain and numbness of her body that she felt, her panicked breathing, desperate to keep herself above the waters of demise, the fear and terror that took hold of her every limb as she stared death in the eye, unsure of what would happen next. To put it all into one word it was… terrifying. Judy could feel a shiver run through her weakened spine and a couple tears appeared in her eyes; tears that were caused by a mix of pain and feelings.</p><p>It wasn't long until her fears disappeared as soon as she saw her savior return to her side with a glass of water. V put the drink on the stool and gently put her hands right beneath Judy's shoulders.</p><p>"Let's get you sitting, okay?" she said, her voice soft and comforting as she slowly lifted her output up. Even though the change of position hurt her a lot, Judy felt so lost in V's loving eyes that she managed to forget about the pain, even if for a couple seconds.</p><p>The techie wanted to say something… anything to let V know just how much she loved her, how grateful she is for saving her life, but her throat has decided to give up on her. Unable to form a word or sentence, all Judy let out was a whimper. As she helplessly looked at V, she could feel another tear forming in the corner of her eye.</p><p>"Shh, baby, it's okay…" V practically whispered, softly brushing a couple of lonely hairs out of Judy's face as soon as the woman was in a somewhat sitting position.</p><p>Judy tried to reach for the glass of water, but her hand was too weak to hold it. She let out an irritated grunt, with another tear falling out of her eye at the sheer hopelessness of her pathetic attempt. V noticed this and a saddened frown appeared on her face. This served as yet another reminder of the fact that even though Judy was awake, she was still nowhere near being the energetic, strong woman she used to be.</p><p>The merc cupped Judy's hand, holding the glass as well and gently brought the drink up to the techie's mouth. As the woman took a sip, she closed her eyes at the burning sensation in her throat that emerged as soon as the liquid passed it. That being said, with every next bit of the room-temperature water she swallowed she could feel it soothe her vocal cords more and more.</p><p>"That's… better" the woman spoke as she swallowed the last bit of the liquid left in the glass. While her voice was still more raspy than usually, at least the overwhelming pain following every single word was gone.</p><p>V smiled, although a hint of uncertainty could be seen on her expression. It was like she was still unsure whether Judy was actually okay, or if this was some sort of a dream.</p><p>"How are you feeling, Judy?" the merc asked after a couple moments, looking into her output's eyes while clutching her hand as if she never wanted to let her go.</p><p>"Coulda been better." a weak, bittersweet chuckle could be heard from the techie's mouth.</p><p>V stood up and gently placed the back of her hand on Judy's forehead. Pulling away after a second, a frown appeared on her face.</p><p>"You're burning up. I gotta call, Vik, I-"</p><p>"Wait" the merc was cut out by Judy, who grabbed V's hand once again, using the tiny bit of strength she had. "Please stay here with me…" a look of desperation painted itself on the techie's face.</p><p>V sat back down, with a bit of guilt building up in her stomach.</p><p>"Fuck, babe… I-" V sighed, looking at the ground with a frown on her face. "I'm just really damn worried about you, y'know?"</p><p>"V…" Judy cupped V's cheek, trying her best to give her a reassuring smile. The woman leaned into the touch, supporting Judy's hand with her own. "Thank you."</p><p>The merc looked at her girlfriend with a look of uncertainty, as if she was thoroughly analyzing every word that Judy had just said.</p><p>"I was so fucking scared, I th-" the techie was cut out by a series of coughs coming out of her throat. V immediately rushed over to her and held her, trying her best to bring the woman even a tiny bit of comfort. "Fuck" Judy spoke again, clearing her throat. "I thought I was going to die… it was so fuckin' scary, V, I can't imagine how it's like for you to-" as tears started dropping from her eyes, the words she was trying to form turned into sobs "To…"</p><p>"Hey. Look at me." V's tone was comforting, as she gently laid her hands on Judy's shoulders and looked deep into the crying woman's eyes. The suffering she saw in them brought her pain as well.</p><p>"It's just unfair!"</p><p>The merc didn't know what to say. On one hand, she never wanted to see Judy this sad and vulnerable, but on the other hand she felt like nothing she could say right now would comfort her. Was she supposed to tell her that everything is gonna be one hundred percent okay? Even though she wasn't true whether that would be the case or not?</p><p>"I know, Judy…" V gave her output a somber smile, as her thumb ran traces on the back of the woman's hand. She softly wiped Judy's tears away with her other hand "I know…"</p><p>"Are…" Judy swallowed a gulp of emotion that has built up in her throat again "Are you scared of dying, V?"</p><p>"I don't think I-" V stopped as she felt a range of emotions appearing on her face. She buried her head in her arms and contemplated her next move. After she looked back at Judy, an unusual expression was painted on her face: a look of genuine fear and desperation.</p><p>"I'm scared as fuck, Jude" the merc continued, her voice cracking and full of emotion "I'm tired of pretending I'm not. This fear… it's haunting me every single day and I can't make it go away." she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to steady herself a tear started falling down her cheek. "They make me out to be this fuckin' merc who can take care of any shit they throw at me, but that's not who I am, for fuck's sake! I'm tired of this shitty facade. I'm weak… vulnerable… helpless… <em>dying</em>"</p><p>V's eyes closed again, trying to calm herself down while she shakily breathed in and out. She felt like an exhausted soldier coming home after an excruciating battle. She was in a battle of sorts - one with her feelings. As she opened her eyes again, it took a couple seconds for the blurriness caused by her tears to go away. The first thing she saw was the expression on Judy's face: shock and pain. The merc immediately felt a wave of guilt drown her thoughts.</p><p>"Sorry, I…" V let out a sigh, covering her face with her hands again "I didn't mean to drop a bomb onto you like this."</p><p>"Hey."</p><p>She suddenly felt Judy's soft touch on her chin, with the woman weakly pulling her head up to face her. As the teary-eyed V looked at her girlfriend, she felt as if she had just been melted by the loving, comforting gaze of Judy. If looks could heal… V would've been the healthiest person in all of Night City right now.</p><p>"I love you, V" Judy said, her voice as soft as possible with the tired, raspy tone "I'll be here for you no matter what."</p><p>"I love you too." V took the hand that Judy put on her chin in her own and gave it a soft kiss "And thank you, Judy. For everything"</p><p>"I should be the one thanking you… I seriously don't know what would've happened to me if you weren't there."</p><p>V sniffed and wiped her tears, feeling a small smile forming on her lips. She breathed in, focusing her sight on the mesmerizing eyes of the beautiful woman in front of her.</p><p>"Valerie."</p><p>"Huh?" confusion appeared on Judy's face.</p><p>"Valerie. That's my real name." the smile on the merc's face now appeared brighter and more genuine. For her it felt like a weight has been lifted of her chest, a weight that was standing on it like a monument for the last few weeks.</p><p>"Valerie… that's-" Judy was interrupted by her coughs again "That's a beautiful name…" her voice was now suddenly getting weaker than before.</p><p>"Sorry for not tellin' you earlier. I wanted to, but all of this shit happened and… yeah" V sighed, scratching the back of her neck</p><p>"Can I… can I call you Val?" Judy smiled weakly, her voice getting quieter and her eyes suddenly feeling frail.</p><p>"Yeah" V laughed, but a concerned look quickly appeared on her face "Hey, babe, you okay?"</p><p>"I'm…" Judy coughed again and a couple droplets of blood fell from her mouth, her face turning into a brand new shade of pale "Dizzy as fuck…"</p><p>V frantically got up, the worry she was feeling was now getting overwhelming. She moved closer to Judy and put her hand on the woman's forehead.</p><p>"Fuck, I knew I should've called Vik earlier" V frowned as she felt the heat beneath her hand</p><p>"I'm… scared" Judy muttured, feeling an all too familiar metallic taste building up in her throat. Thanks to V keeping her company, she managed to ignore the pain in the place she was shot, but now the feeling was getting too overwhelming.</p><p>"I'm here, baby" V whispered, cupping Judy's cheeks as she looked into her scared, weakened eyes "I'll get Vik and everything's gonna be fine…"</p><p>"I promise."</p><p>
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</p><p>A couple hours have passed. Vik came by and prescribed Judy some medicine which should prevent her from feeling so sick all the time. He gave her some sort of an injection as well, but V couldn't remember what it was - most of her medical knowledge was limited to what painkillers to take after a gunfight and how to secure a bleeding wound. What mattered the most was that Judy was feeling seemingly better than before. She fell asleep again after the injection, but her condition was now as stable as ever.</p><p>As V sat on the chair in front of Judy's bed for what felt like an eternity, she couldn't help but feel a heavy weight on her eyelids - it was a bit funny how the simple fact of sitting for a couple of hours could bring her consciousness to its limit. However, even if there wasn't much physical activity that day, the merc was absolutely drained emotionally. At that moment she didn't worry about being on a timer, but she felt like the things weighing on her were way worse. Even though she <em>knew</em> that Judy was now safe, an overwhelming dread of the possibility of the techie's condition suddenly taking a turn for the worse has made its home in her head and it seemed like it wouldn't come out any time soon.</p><p>The woman picked up her acoustic guitar out of sheer boredom. She started strumming quietly, letting a random array of notes and chords fill the room. Music felt like a way of escaping from reality for her and she had to admit that Johnny's experience and artist traits only helped with that. Even though a lot of ideas came and went through her head, V didn't feel like singing; she wanted to keep the room fairly quiet, as she focused on the sight of Judy laying before her. She paid more attention to her beloved girlfriend's steady breathing than to her own. For her, it felt like Judy was a treasure. A treasure that was now unfortunately tainted by a near-death experience and the morbidness that the fear of V dying probably brought to her. The merc couldn't help but feel guilty in a way. On the other hand though… maybe the future wouldn't be all that grim? No matter what would happen, V's number one priority was to make sure nothing else could happen to Judy. The merc sighed; her biggest dream was getting a happy ending with her output - leaving the city and moving somewhere else. Taking into account everything that was happening around her, it felt as if the dream was unobtainable. At the end, all V wanted was for Judy to have a good, safe life… even if that meant that the merc herself would be merely a memory in the techie's head, were she to fail.</p><p>V couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed because of the fact she didn't reveal her real name to Judy earlier. It wasn't that she didn't trust the techie enough or anything like that. She just completely forgot about Judy not knowing it because of all of the madness the two have been through over the course of their relationship.</p><p>Suddenly, the merc jumped a little, startled at the sound that abruptly took her out of the realm of her thoughts: the ring of her holo. It was Rita, who probably wanted to know something more about Judy's condition. <em>Right… </em>V told the bouncer about the techie waking up a couple hours ago, so she wondered what was the matter this time.</p><p>"What's up?" V answered the call</p><p>"<em>Yo, so I'm on a break from work right now… some new chick is takin' over so Mateo told me to rest for a sec'' </em>the Mox chuckled. The woman wasn't wearing her usual white tank top with the bottom part ripped off. Instead, she appeared to be wearing a black hoodie. While not something V was used to seeing on her, it was weirdly complementive to the rest of her looks. She was in a car at the moment, seemingly waiting at a red light. "<em>And I was wonderiiin'... Can I see Judy? Just, y'know, to check on how she's doing?"</em></p><p>"She's sleeping now but…" V paused for a moment, thinking about the answer "Yeah, sure"</p><p>"<em>Aight…"</em> Rita nodded, although a hint of disappointment could be heard within her voice "<em>I'll be there in a few, 'kay?"</em></p><p>"Yeah, see ya"</p><p>The call ended.</p><p>There was one thing that confused the merc. Something completely unrelated to her beloved girlfriend, or to the Mox bouncer. Why hasn't Johnny visited her for such a long time? He wasn't normally this… absent. Was there a reason for it, or was V just searching for a way to keep her mind off the things that were bothering here at the moment?</p><p>
  <em>Oh, fuck…</em>
</p><p>Suddenly, a brand new feeling made its way into the canvas of V's system. A feeling that was new to the situation, albeit one that the merc has definitely gotten acquainted with, almost certainly too much. The glitches, the nausea, the aching… and the fucking notification: <em>RELIC MALFUNCTION DETECTED</em>. This one was… too sudden. It was certainly scary, too. V was lowkey glad that Judy wasn't awake to witness it: the woman stumbling out of the bedroom in an overwhelmingly dizzy and weakened state as the nausea was taking hold of her body.</p><p>The world in the merc's vision was spinning in circles as if she was on a high-paced carousel. The piercing pain in her head was mixed with a stomach ache, and her trembling hands certainly didn't help as she clinged onto a wall, desperate to keep herself standing. The blue-haired woman somehow stumbled up to the bathroom and leaned on the door, using all of the strength left to simply open it. It was then that the situation got even more shitty.</p><p>V fell onto the ground, the distortions in her vision causing the room to look more like an abstract painting than an actual place. She let out a shaky breath, as she desperately supported herself with her hands to somehow crawl to the toilet, the nausea getting almost too much to bear. Couple moments later she found herself leaning on the toilet bowl with her hands as she threw up everything that was in her stomach.</p><p>After that painful and exhausting reminder of the fact that her condition is still very real and doesn't take any prisoners, the merc fell to the cold tiles of Judy's bathroom. She laid on her back, panting heavily as she had to suffer through the burning sensation in her throat mixed with sweat on her face and bloodshot eyes.</p><p>"<em>V…"</em> her personal tumor Johnny Silverhand appeared on the other side of the bathroom. His face screamed concern and his voice was more serious than usual. "<em>It's fucking bad. You look like shit"</em></p><p>"Tell me… something I don't know" V groaned, rolling her eyes in annoyance</p><p>"<em>I'm just stating the facts" </em>Johnny shrugged "<em>Seems like you need reminding that you're fuckin' dying."</em></p><p>"What, is puking my guts out every single day not a good enough reminder?"</p><p>"<em>It would be if you actually cared enough to go to Hanako instead of spending all that time with your chick"</em></p><p>"Fuck off."</p><p>"<em>What a fucking shitshow…"</em> Johnny sighed and shook his head "<em>You know that there will be a point where another malfunction straight up fuckin' kills you, right?"</em></p><p>V opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.</p><p>The merc grabbed the nearby bathroom sink with her hand and used it as a way to support herself as she got up full of pain. She leaned on the piece of furniture and turned the water on. With a couple quick splashes of the liquid she washed her face and turned it off, trying her best to walk out of the bathroom afterwards. With her hand leaning against a wall for balance she made her best effort to get to the door.</p><p>As she opened it, the familiar purple-haired Mox stood in front of her. However, the bouncer's face turned into a surprised one as soon as she saw V.</p><p>"Uhh, you okay?" Rita asked with a hint of hesitation in her voice</p><p>"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine" V rolled her eyes. Was the paleness on her face caused by her latest episode that visible?</p><p>"Right…" The Mox said, giving V a look of uncertainty as she entered the apartment "So, where's Judy?"</p><p>The merc gestured to Rita to follow her as she made her way into Judy's bedroom. As the two woman entered the room, the bouncer could feel a pit in her stomach as she stared at her friend, laying there so weak and vulnerable. Her expression was like a mix of shock and sadness and V couldn't help but notice this unexpected display of emotion, something that wasn't usually present on the face of a tough bouncer such as Rita.</p><p>"Whoa, it's… it's, like, kinda fuckin' surreal to be seeing her like this, isn't it?" Rita said after a short moment, which to her seemed like it could last an eternity.</p><p>For a second, she felt like the view of Judy's true state knocked the air out of her lungs, rendering her unable to form words properly. Knowing about something was one thing, yet actually seeing it for yourself was a whole different experience</p><p>"Yeah…" V gave Rita a somber, understanding nod. The merc knew this better than anyone, unfortunately.</p><p>A silence emerged, with the void being filled up only by the beeps of the monitors Judy was still hooked up to as the two women stood there, looking at the sleeping techie.</p><p>"Y'know it just baffles me…" Rita spoke, turning the merc's attention to herself "That of all the people it had to be Jude. Shit makes no sense. Like… of all the people at Lizzie's I sometimes feel like she's the only person who knows how to talk about anything other than fuckin' sex and drugs... shit, this just sucks…."</p><p>As V looked into the other woman's eyes, she could sense a range of emotions in them: a mix of sadness, anger and a little bit of denial.</p><p>"I feel like I've fucked it all up" V said after a while "Broke a promise. Couldn't protect her."</p><p>Another couple moments of quiet followed.</p><p>"I don't think you're being fair to yourself, to be honest." Rita broke the silence, surprising V a bit.</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"It's just that…" the bouncer scratched the back of her neck, searching for the proper words "I think that you've helped Judy more than you know"</p><p>"You… sure?" V crossed her arms in hesitation, eyeing the other woman.</p><p>"Yeah, trust me, I see her everyday" Rita chuckled "Y'know, ever since you two got together she seems more… alive. I couldn't make her tell me what happened, but I remember her being all void of energy and fucked up all the time… then you came in and it felt like she suddenly became an entirely different person."</p><p>"That's good to hear." V said as she could feel herself smiling a bit.</p><p>Silence filled the room once again, as the two women looked at Judy.</p><p>"So… how's it like?" Rita spoke after what felt like a couple minutes "Y'know, being such a high-profile merc as yourself?"</p><p>"I don't really care about the fame and clout" V shrugged "I used to… but I've changed. I'm just trying to make a living, y'know…hopefully afford a better future for Jude and myself. Apart from that… I dunno… you just gotta learn to live with the constant fear of someone hunting you down… and you need to overcome that fear somehow."</p><p>"Tell me about it" Rita gave V a understanding nod "Being a bouncer at Lizzie's ain't all sunshine and rainbows either. You never know what could happen… you see a normal looking guy approaching you and the next thing you know you're bleeding out on the concrete cause said guy just so happened to carry a gun"</p><p>"That a true story, or somethin?" V raised her brow.</p><p>"Didn't happen to me, obviously" Rita shrugged "But it is a true story. A girl that worked there as a bouncer before me got fuckin' flatlined like that, just because some random guy decided to rob a Mox club. The guy got subdued and killed moments later as well but, y'know, the blood has already been spilled and an innocent life was lost that day."</p><p>"Shit's been like this in NC for ages" V said in a somber tone "See, I grew up in Heywood and the difference is, no one would dare just barge into the Coyote Cojo like that."</p><p>"The guy was just an ordinary gonk. No connections to any gangs or anythin'... prolly shitfaced as well"</p><p>"You ever considered changing your career choice?" V asked after a while</p><p>"Not really… not like I'd have any other suitable options" Rita chuckled "All things considered, the Moxes are my family… the only one I have" her voice got quieter at the end, as her face had a somber look painted on it.</p><p>"I kinda know how you feel" V said "My only 'family' is Judy and a couple other chooms who helped me a ton."</p><p>"I just hope she gets better soon" Rita sighed "It just hurts to see her like this"</p><p>"You and me both…"</p><p>
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</p><p>V was sitting half-asleep on Judy's couch more than 24 hours later. A couple things have happened since her conversation with Rita. The techie's condition got visibly better, as the woman could easily stay awake for more than a couple hours. Judy no longer needed all the monitors and machines and she even started to walk a bit, although only with V's assistance as the weaknesses were still taking their toll. V's focus was still set on Judy all the time, but she took the liberty of doing a couple gigs just to pass the time, as Rita filled in on her and looked after the wounded woman. It couldn't have been all sunshine and rainbows however, as she found herself in a state of another relic malfunction sooner than expected, which led to Johnny scolding her again right before she took her omega blockers and decided to rest in Judy's apartment. That's how she got into this position - sitting in the dark living room while her eyes were uncontrollably closing. It was no wonder that something as mundane as simply sitting in place for hours on end proved to be a snoozefest for a merc so used to high paced action happening all the time.</p><p>It was already dark outside, with the room dimly illuminated by the pale moonlight. Before V could escape into the realm of her dreams, a sudden rumble from Judy's room startled her, making her get up instantly. Not wasting any time, the merc rushed over to the bedroom to investigate as symptoms of concern started creeping into her mind.</p><p>As she walked into the room, she saw Judy leaning against the wall, her feet trembling lightly as she struggled to maintain balance. Next to her laid a knocked over chair, which was probably the source of the noise.</p><p>"What are you doing, babe?!" V rushed over to the woman, holding her tightly as soon as she got to her.</p><p>"Heh, just wanted to stretch my legs a bit…" Judy said, pressing her face into V's shoulder and running circles on the woman's back with her hand as she immersed herself in her lover's touch.</p><p>"You're supposed to be in the bed!" V hissed softly, a hint of anger and concern heard in her voice at first but she quickly felt herself smile at Judy's sheer gonkness. "You're a freakin' gonk, you know that?" the merc pulled away and locked eyes with the techie. A smile appeared on both of their faces. V was happy to see that Judy's face was once again filled with life, a far cry from the paleness of her weakened face just a little over a day ago.</p><p>"Your gonk" Judy giggled and pressed a kiss onto V's lips.</p><p>The merc ran her fingers through her output's hair as the two got lost in their own world, nothing bothering them at all for the time the kiss lasted.</p><p>"How do your legs feel?" V asked, her voice warm and whispery.</p><p>"Uhh, I think I'm gonna need you to carry me, Val" Judy chuckled softly, noticing how her legs were still weakened and unable to stand up on their own.</p><p>V couldn't help but feel a smile forming on her face at the nickname Judy gave her. To hear someone call her by a variation of her real name was something truly remarkable and domestic in nature.</p><p>"In a good mood today, are we?" V smiled, genuinely happy for the first time in days, as she looked into Judy's eyes so full of color and energy again.</p><p>"Uh-huh"</p><p>Judy nuzzled into V's chest and held her as close as possible with the merc returning the embrace. V gave Judy's forehead a soft kiss as she breathed in the scent of the techie's beautiful, soft hair, letting it fill and calm her senses like nothing else could. This moment of bliss might've lasted not more than half a minute, but for the two women it felt like an eternity of peace.</p><p>"Let's go then!"</p><p>Much to Judy's surprise, V picked her up, causing the techie to let out a playful giggle. A moment later she found herself clutching onto the merc with her arms resting behind V's head, pulling the two lovers as close as possible. Warmth filled Judy's body as she felt one hand supporting her back and the other one holding her legs. The techie pulled in even closer and it didn't take much to completely close the distance between them, resulting in a long, passionate kiss which lasted for what felt like forever.</p><p>In this position, the two made their way to the kitchen, where V carefully let Judy open the fridge and take out two beers, all while the merc made it her biggest mission to make sure her girlfriend doesn't fall down.</p><p>"Uh, you sure you can drink that after all the medicine you've taken?" V raised an eyebrow as she saw Judy close the fridge. She then felt the cold press of the bottles against her back as the other woman readjusted her position and put her hands in their previous spot for support.</p><p>"There's only one way to find out" Judy chuckled as she gave V a quick kiss in the cheek</p><p>"Right…" V said, although a hint of uncertainty could be heard in her voice. She didn't object, not wanting to ruin the beautiful moment the two shared, but she couldn't help but feel a bit concerned.</p><p>"The stars are beautiful tonight" Judy said, looking at the window</p><p>"Not as beautiful as you" V smirked cheekily</p><p>"Jesus christ, V" Judy laughed, burying her face in the woman's chest "Cheesy as fuck"</p><p>"I know, I know…" V lightly and carefully patted Judy's back "Did that on purpose"</p><p>The techie giggled and pulled away to face V again.</p><p>"I know just the spot we can go" she said "If you got enough strength to carry me there, that is" a grin appeared on her face</p><p>"Oh, you're questioning <em>my</em> strength?" V gasped playfully, pretending to be all offended</p><p>"How could I?"</p><p>Judy pressed another kiss onto V's lips.</p><p>"Shall we go there?" V asked after a while</p><p>"Let's."</p><p>
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</p><p>Moments later the two lovers found themselves on the apartment building's roof, in the exact same spot they were calming down right after the crucial moment of Judy's life that was Evelyn's unexpected passing. As bittersweet as being here was, the women paid it no mind - all that mattered to them was each other's presence. The sounds of the bustling city mixed with the quiet music playing from a radio put on a foldable table created an oddly soothing atmosphere. Judy and V sat on two foldable chairs, bathing in the moonlight and taking in the view of the neon-lit buildings of Japantown. As V took a sip of her cold beer, all she could feel was peace. Finally, after a couple days of non-stop worrying she felt as if everything was gonna be okay. With Judy by her side, awake and breathing, it seemed like all of her problems and concerns disappeared. Knowing how long her omega blockers usually lasted, she also let go of the paranoia that another malfunction could happen and decided to live in the moment, taking in the close moments she shared with her output that day.</p><p>"It's nice here, isn't it?" The merc said, putting aside the bottle as she looked at Judy. "Wish it could stay like this forever."</p><p>"I think it can…" a small, genuine smile appeared on the techie's lips as she looked into her girlfriend's eyes "Just you and me, in some apartment we'll buy together…"</p><p>"You still sure about that?" V took a sip of her beer "Leavin' this place behind and… finding a new life, or something?"</p><p>"I want it, V" Judy declared, putting her hand on V's shoulder and giving it a soft squeeze of comfort "More than anything."</p><p>"I just hope I'll be there to… experience it." V chuckled bittersweetly, as she felt the fears of passing fill up her mind again, pushing out the other feelings.</p><p>"Valerie…"</p><p>V looked at her partner with a hint of uncertainty in her eyes. Judy's touch on her shoulder certainly brought her a feeling of the warmth and comfort she'd missed so much when the techie was still in a coma state. As she stared at the techie's reassuring smile, she felt butterflies in her stomach mixed with her heart telling her that, somehow, everything will turn out to be okay in the end.</p><p>"Hold me… please…" V finally spoke, her voice cracking as she stood up. She hated to feel so vulnerable, especially since she was used to feeling at the top of the world as a well-respected merc. However, no matter what she tried, she couldn't push the fears of dying out of her mind.</p><p>Judy stood up with a hiss of pain as she felt the aching in her still weakened legs. The merc noticed this and quickly rushed up to the woman, supporting her. The techie smiled at the sudden warmth that came with V's touch and the two walked into a more open part of the rooftop.</p><p>"I'm here, Val…" Judy said, her tone as soft and comforting as possible "I'm here for you."</p><p>"Thank you" V muttered, burying her face in Judy's chest as the two stood there, embraced.</p><p>For a moment it felt like the women could ignore every source of sound they heard and focus only on each other's heartbeat as they found themselves in a hug so tight, that it seemed they'd never let each other go. All of the love and affection they felt was enough to calm their minds and let them forget all of the bad things that happened to them. For that short moment, it was them and only them.</p><p>V closed her eyes as she ran her fingers through the back of Judy's hair. Their bodies started swaying lightly in the rhythm of a slow song that has just started playing on the radio. The movement and closeness that came with it were soothing and freeing their minds of all their concerns. At that moment, V felt as if she could believe in the premise of it all turning out okay in the end. The feeling of being there, embraced with her biggest love, entangled in a slow, loving dance while the pale moonlight illuminated the place was something otherworldly, to say the least. V knew this for some time now, but it was then that she truly realised something - she actually wanted to spend the rest of her life with Judy, whatever sacrifices would need to be made to achieve that dream. It was a beautiful vision of a better life waiting for them somewhere. As all of those thoughts filled her mind, all V wanted was to let her lover know just how much she appreciated and cherished her. It all came down to three magic words…</p><p>"I love you."</p><p>"I love you too, mi calabacita"</p><p>Whatever could happen next mattered next to nothing. At that moment it was just the two of them, entangled in love. And only that felt important.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The chapter was supposed to be less angsty... huh</p><p>Anyways, sorry that I had to keep you waiting for so long... hope you don't hate me haha</p><p>As always, thanks for all the support, the amount of hits and kudos this story is getting has been truly mindblowing for me! If you have any thoughts you'd like to share with me, please do leave a comment :)</p><p>See ya in the next chapter!<br/>FoxyGuy87</p>
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